Communist Football

We need to do something about B1G officiating to make sure these problems are minimized in the future. It can be done. (NOTE: I've updated this thread to account for comments here and on the regular board.)

As a historical reminder, it was the Big Ten that introduced instant replay to college football. In the 2002 season, Joe Paterno was furious that blown calls on fumbles had cost Penn State several games. As a result, the Big Ten introduced replay in the 2004 season.

The same thing can happen again, if Jim Harbaugh and Warde Manuel make it a priority. We can improve the replay process and get the officiating subjectivity out of important parts of the game. Here are some areas that are relatively easy to improve. Perhaps you all have others?

1. Pass interference. In the CFL, coaches are allowed to challenge interference calls and non-calls. The Big Ten could adopt this rule, and also make any pass attempt on third or fourth down, or over 20 yards, reviewable if the replay booth wants to review the call or non-call. The replay booth wouldn't have to review the call each time, like with a fumble, but rather if the call was clearly worth reviewing.

2. Spots. The problem with the fourth down call was that the replay was at a bad angle, and therefore didn't produce what officials would consider indisputable video evidence (though it is geometrically obvious that he was short). There has to be a way to get better spots in situations where the linesmen can't see what's happening. Perhaps cameras can be put on poles at the first down marker and at ground level to look over and under the play on each side of the field—or perhaps from cameras with telephoto lenses higher up in the stadium. You could have a camera on one of those pulley systems directly above the ball's yardage line at all times, kind of like the goal line cameras in the NHL.

3a. Higher quality refs (pay them). As we've discussed on the board in the past, the B1G refs are part-time and don't appear to conform to a rigorous quality standard. The conference could easily afford to have full-time refs who are high end. NFL referees made $173,000 on average in 2015; the Big Ten could easily serve as a farm team for near-NFL quality referees by paying them.

If a full-fledged B1G officiating crew cost $400k a year, times 7 conference games a week times 9 conference games a year = $25.6 million annually. The B1G's latest television contract pays the conference $440 million a year, and that doesn't include bowl game revenues and other income sources.

If the conference feels that's too much to spend, the conference could instead have two full-time officiating crews that rotate through the conference's most important games each week. That would cost $8.4 million a year ($400k x 10 regular season weeks x 2 games/week + championship game).

3b. Higher quality refs (grade them). Furthermore, the conference could have a weekly, public, grading of the officiating teams in each game, giving awards to the officiating crew that did the best, and caling out the ones that made mistakes. It would be after the fact game-wise, but it would give fans confidence that the B1G takes officiating seriously.

3c. Higher quality refs (eliminate conflicts of interest). As noted in this thread by Magnus, the official who called the personal foul on Harbaugh was in Ohio's officiating hall of fame. It appears that the B1G used to have a rule that refs from Ohio and Michigan couldn't ref The Game (h/t NYCBlue). While I'm sure that there are officials who can call the game fairly even if they are from the same state as one of the teams, there have been too many instances of poor officiating associated with this problem.

Another way to address this solution, suggested by researchers at Miami University (NNTM) and Florida State, is to nationalize FBS officiating. This is apparently done in most other NCAA sports. The researchers found that there is significant bias toward the home team in college football officiating, among other things, and suggested that officiating be run by the NCAA nationally rather than by conferences. Such a change would limit the likelihood of a local official or conference-associated official biasing the outcome of a game.

4. Replay booths at a neutral site. Instead of the booths being at the site of the game, have them in Chicago. This is what the NHL does with all replays being reviewed in Toronto. This removes the pressure on replay officials to play to the home crowd.

The Big Ten has an opportunity to be a leader in improving the integrity of competition in its flagship sport. It should take advantage of it. Warde Manuel, the ball's in your court.

The death of Communist Football in Ann Arbor, at the hands of fascist manball counter-revolutionaries, has kept me in hiding. I know many of you have been waiting for THE_KNOWLEDGE to weigh in on the coaching search. However, my crack intelligence analysts are convinced that Harbaugh to Michigan is a done deal, based on publicly available information. Here is why:

1. Lloyd Carr's pro-Harbaugh comments. As you know, Lloyd Carr has stated: "Everyone has an opinion, and I am no different. If I had a choice, I would choose Jim Harbaugh. But it will be Jim Hackett's decision, and that is as it should be." This has been interpreted by the capitalist media as simply Carr expressing his opinion. It is much more than that. Carr, being as close as he is to the Athletic Department, would not express his opinion if it was inconsistent with that of Hackett, because doing so would undermine Hackett's search process. You can be sure that Hackett would be pissed if Carr was pushing Hackett to make a different decision than one Hackett would make anyway. In addition, Carr is almost certain to have inside information as to Harbaugh's interest in the job; he wouldn't advocate for Harbaugh unless he knew that Harbaugh was interested.

2. The collapse of the Vegas betting line. The Vegas Harbaugh bet collapsing from 8-1 to 2-1, and then being pulled off the table, is not merely a sign of decadent western gamblers, but of inside information. Jeff Moss of DetroitSportsRag reached out to Sportsbook.ag, and found out something very interesting:

Hi there….our limits for this market were $2k max win per bet. Its a volatile high risk market where the public may know more than us. It was a novelty bet so none of the bets were there sizable, it was the amount of bets that got our attention as it didn’t matter how low we went, they just kept coming in… We’ve been researching it more and more we can’t explain the action other then (sic) someone might know more about his coaching situation than us. We might consider opening it up again, but at this point it’s off the board.

There was a sudden, and massive, bet on Harbaugh coming to Michigan. In the stock market, such surges are frequently, though not always, the result of inside information.

3. Harbaugh has not quashed the Michigan rumors. Harbaugh was quick to shoot down rumors that he would go to Michigan under fascist AD Dave Brandon. That has clearly not happened in this case. Harbaugh genuinely loves his alma mater, and has zero incentive to harm his relationship with his former teammates and coaches by stringing Michigan along.

4. Hackett has told players that the search will likely be over after Christmas break. The NFL regular-season schedule ends on December 28. The 49ers could make the playoffs, throwing a wrench in this schedule, but Hackett's confidence in that timeline is telling.

5. Everything else we already know. The alienation of Harbaugh at San Francisco; the fact that Hackett as an interim AD has more flexibility to grant Harbaugh broad powers over the football program; the fact that several insiders have described Hackett as a longer-term hire; the fact that Harbaugh is objectively the best qualified candidate by a country kilometer; that Stephen Ross is a strong backer of Harbaugh coming to Michigan.

Even at 2:1 odds, decadent capitalists ought to take the bet that Harbaugh is coming to Michigan. The facts above make it extremely unlikely that any other outcome will take place.

Harbaugh's appointment would, of course, mean the end of Communist Football in Ann Arbor for the foreseeable future. But the arc of football is long, and it bends toward the read-option.

They say that the five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I think I'm in stage 4. It's taken me this long to publish a post I'd written after the bowl game in January, and that's because Denard has a game tomorrow and all the stats will change, obviously.

I grew up with M in my veins, shaking my head every season but one at the underachievement of Michigan teams with All-American talent but below-average coaching in the games that mattered most. With the hiring of Rich Rodriguez, I truly believed that Michigan had turned the corner, and was evolving into a perennial national college football superpower. The transition was tough, but it was working. The offense was finally showing the promise that we all believed it would, while the defense suffered from a perfect storm of roster depletions and coaching confusion. If we had overhauled the defensive staff but kept the program intact...ahhh, time to put the ifs and buts away for good and move on.

One thing I know: Communist Football is here to stay. It represents the highest evolution of offensive power. The revolution will live on, in places like Eugene and Starkville and Auburn. In Ann Arbor, the Rebellion has been dealt a setback, but its embers will never burn out. Let this final edition of the Almanack stand as a testament to what was, and what will never be.

Prefatory Verbiage

Corrections are welcome. If you have found an error, please put it in the comments section and I'll give you credit. Obviously with so much data, mistakes can happen.

Review the disclaimers. Football has evolved considerably over its 141-year history, much more so than other major sports, and that is important to keep in mind when talking about all-time records. The existence of this diary is not meant to imply that individual achievement is more important than the achievement of the team.

Bowls in Review: Stalingrad 1942

One thing that I think the Gator Bowl reminded us was that Denard is a true sophomore. He plays great when he plays with confidence, when the team is ahead or tied or close behind. But in games where the defense faltered, Denard got jittery; his decisions got worse; the offense sputtered. As an upperclassman, he’ll get better at these things.

Denard gained 59 yards on 11 carries, for a respectable 5.4 YPC. He completed 27 passes on 41 attempts, with 2 TDs and 1 INT, for an (again) respectable completion percentage of 66% and a mediocre efficiency rating of 129.11.

Of the other prominant dual-threat QBs, Heisman winner Cam Newton's stats were remarkably similar to Denard‘s (of course against stronger opposition): Newton ran for 64 yards on 22 carries (2.9 YPC), and went 20-for-34 (59%) for 265 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT. Colin Kaepernick ran for 22 yards on 9 attempts (2.4 YPC), and went 20-for-33 for 192 yards (61%), with 1 TD and 1 INT in a victory over Boston College. Taylor Martinez ran for 23 yards on 14 attempts, and completed 7 of 9 passes for 53 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT, in a losing effort against Washington.

LaMichael James ran for 49 yards on 13 attempts (3.8 YPC) in Oregon's 22-19 loss to Auburn in the BCS Championship.

Records of the Year: Big Ten Single-Season Total Offense; 1500/2500 Club

Denard finished the 2010 season with 1,702 yards rushing and 2,570 passing, making him the first person in college football history—at any level—with more than 1,500 yards rushing and 2,500 yards passing in a single season.

Notably, with 313 yards of total offense against Mississippi State, Denard eclipsed Drew Brees’ 10-year-old Big Ten record for total offense in a single season, with 4,272 yards (Brees gained 4,189 in 2000 for Purdue).

Denard still holds (for now) the Michigan career yards-per-carry record with a minimum of 200 attempts, with 6.3 YPC. The previous record was 6.3 YPC by Jon Vaughn (from 1989-1990).

Denard lost his hold of the Michigan career pass-efficiency record with a minimum of 200 attempts, as the Ohio State game brough him down to 146.2. The current record is 148.1 by Elvis Grbac (from 1989-1992), though Elvis had the benefit of a certain Heisman Trophy-winning receiver. Denard's 146.2 mark is also on pace for fourth all-time in the Big Ten, though he needs 300 completions to qualify for that record (he currently has 169).

Denard also just barely missed out on the Michigan single-season total offense per play record, with 7.8 yards per play in 2010. The record is held by Drew Henson, who recorded 7.9 YPP in 2000.

Quarterbacks as NCAA Rushing Champions

A quarterback has never led the NCAA FBS in rushing yards over a single season. In 1937, the first year in which the NCAA kept official football statistics, Colorado halfback Byron "Whizzer" White led the nation in rushing with 1,121 yards, along with 475 passing yards. (If that wasn't enough, White also went to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, played in the NFL for Pittsburgh and Detroit, served in World War II during which he was awarded two Bronze Stars, came back and graduated from Yale Law School, and was appointed by John F. Kennedy to the Supreme Court of the United States.)

In 2010, Denard barely failed to become the first quarterback in history to finish the season as the NCAA rushing champion by yards gained. He gained 1,702 yards on the ground, 29 yards behind LaMichael James.

On a yards-per-game basis, James won the title with 144.3 (Denard fell to fourth with 130.9, behind James, Connecticut's Jordan Todman, and WKU's Bobby Rainey). Personally, I find the YPG statistic to be arbitrary: should Denard be punished because the Bowling Green game was a rout and he was pulled, and LaMichael James be rewarded because he was suspended for one game for pleading guilty to harrassing his ex-girlfriend? FWIW, on a yards-per-carry basis, Denard is well ahead of James.

Here are the top 5 rushers in the country in 2010, sorted by yards gained:

Player

Team

Carries

Yards

YPC

Games

YPG

TD

LaMichael James

Oregon

294

1,731

5.89

*12

144.3

21

Denard Robinson

MICH

256

1,702

6.65

13

130.9

14

Mikel Leshoure

Illinois

281

1,697

6.04

13

130.5

13

Jordan Todman

Connecticut

334

1,695

5.07

12

141.3

14

Bobby Rainey

W. Kentucky

340

1,649

4.85

12

137.4

15

* - LaMichael James was suspended for Oregon's first game against
New Mexico for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor.

Rushing Yards by a QB, Single-Game

Denard currently holds the Michigan and Big Ten records for rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game: 258 vs. Notre Dame. The NCAA FBS record is 308, on 22 attempts, by Stacey Robinson of Northern Illinois, against Fresno State, on Oct. 6, 1990. The previous Michigan single-game record was held by another #16, Steve Smith, who ran for 147 yards on four carries against Minnesota in 1983.

Rushing Yards by a QB, Single-Season

Denard gained 1,731 rushing yards in 13 games in 2010. He owns the NCAA FBS (I-A) record, previously set by Beau Morgan of Air Force in 1996 with 1,494 yards. The Big Ten record was previously in the hands of Antwaan Randle-El in 2000 with 1,270 yards. Denard has destroyed the previous Michigan record for QB rushing yards in a season: 674 by Steve Smith in 1981.

Before you get too overwhelmed by all the numbers in this diary, just stop and think about that for a minute. Denard Robinson, your starting Michigan quarterback, playing before your very eyes, nearly tripled a Michigan rushing record. And not just any record, but one that has stood for three decades. Even if you account for the fact that we're playing a very different style of football now—it's just incredible.

Rushing Yards by a QB, Career

There's no point in projecting Denard's career rushing totals, since there are a number of variables (Al Borges? Does Denard stay his senior year? Does a great tailback lighten his rushing load?). But here are the records:

Michigan's career record is held by Rick Leach (1975-1978) at 2,176 yards: a record Denard could break this weekend against Western Michigan. Denard needs 123 yards in the WMU game to take this title. The Big Ten record is Antwaan Randel El's (1998-2001) at 3,895 yards. The NCAA FBS record is held by Pat White (2005-2008) at 4,480 yards.

The NCAA FBS per-game career record is 109.1 yards by Stacey Robinson of Northern Illinois, achieved from 1988-1990 over 25 games.

Rushing Records (At Any Position)

For a single game, the Michigan record is 347 by Ron Johnson (pictured) in 1968 against Wisconsin; the Big Ten record is 377 by Anthony Thompson of Indiana in 1989 against Wisconsin; the NCAA FBS record is 406 by LaDainian Tomlinson of TCU in 1999 against UTEP.

For a single season, the Michigan record is 1,818 yards (Tshimanga Biakabutuka, 1995); the Big Ten record is 2,087 yards (Larry Johnson, Penn St., 2002); the NCAA FBS record is 2,628 yards (Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State, 1988). Denard can break Touchdown Tim's Michigan record by gaining 176 yards in the bowl game.

That Barry Sanders record will be around for a long time. At one point, Denard was on pace to break Larry Johnson's Big Ten rushing record, but he slowed down as the schedule got tougher.

For a career, the Michigan record is held by Mike Hart (5,040 yards, 2004-2007); the Big Ten record is held by Ron Dayne (7,125 yards, 1996-1999); the NCAA FBS record is also held by Ron Dayne, but they list it as 6,397 yards. (Herschel Walker of Georgia holds the record for a 3-year career at 5,259 yards, set from 1980-1982.)

The 200/200 Club

Denard is the only player in FBS history to gain 200 yards rushing and 200 yards passing twice—in regular-season games. To me this is a silly distinction: who cares if it was done in the regular season or a bowl game? If anything, Vince Young's performance in the 2005 Rose Bowl against USC is even more remarkable, given that that USC team is considered one of the most dominant teams of the modern era. Wake me up when Denard gets his third 200/200 game. (He did go for 191/190 against Penn State.)

Anyway, here are the 200/200 games listed in the NCAA record book, sorted by total offense. You'll note that Denard is the only member of the 240/240 club, and Marques Tuiasosopo is the only member of the 200/300 club.

Pictured at right is Penn halfback Francis "Reds" Bagnell, 1950 Heisman Trophy runner-up and great-uncle to MGoComrade Dandaman. Bagnell was the first member of the 200/200 club. It took 36 years for a second player to accomplish the feat.

Player

Team (Opponent)

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Marques Tuiasosopo

Washington (Stanford)

1999

207

302

509

Vince Young

Texas (Oklahoma St.)

2005

267

239

506

Denard Robinson

MICH (Notre Dame)

2010

258

244

502

Denard Robinson

MICH (Indiana)

2010

217

277

494

Reds Bagnell

Penn (Dartmouth)

1950

214

276

490

Brad Smith

Missouri (Nebraska)

2005

246

234

480

Brian Mitchell

La.-Lafayette (Colo. St.)

1987

271

205

476

Antwaan Randle-El

Indiana (Minnesota)

2000

210

263

473

Vince Young

Texas (USCRose Bowl)

2005

200

267

467

Patrick White

W. Va. (Pittsburgh)

2006

220

204

424

Steve Gage

Tulsa (New Mexico)

1986

212

209

421

The 1500/2500 Club

There is one quarterback in college football history—Division I, II, or III—who has both rushed for 1,500 yards and passed for 2,500 yards in the same season.

Player

Team

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Denard Robinson

MICH

2010

1,702

2,570

4,272

The 1500/2000 Club

For that matter, there's only one who has rushed for 1,500 and passed for 2,000:

Player

Team

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Denard Robinson

MICH

2010

1,702

2,570

4,272

The 1500/1500 Club

There is one quarterback in major college football history who has both rushed and passed for 1,500 yards in the same season.

Player

Team

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Denard Robinson

MICH

2010

1,702

2,570

4,272

The 1000/1000 Club

Johnny Bright, a halfback from Drake, was the first member of the 1000/1000 Club, the same year Reds Bagnell joined the 200/200 Club. In 1951, Wilbanks Smith, a racist defensive tackle from Oklahoma A&M (later Oklahoma State), deliberately broke Bright's jaw, permanently damaging his football career. The incident led the NCAA to mandate the usage of face masks, and earned the 1952 Pulitzer Prize for the photographers who documented the assault. Drake temporarily withdrew from the Missouri Valley Conference to protest the fact that the conference didn't discipline Smith for the attack.

When Bright graduated from Drake in 1951, he held the NCAA career total offense record, with 5,903 yards: a record that stood for 15 years. It took three decades for another player to join the 1000/1000 Club. Tragically, Bright died at the age of 53 of a massive heart attack.

Today, there are 30 quarterbacks (and one halfback) in FBS who have run and thrown for 1000 yards in the same season. Other than Denard, none have both run and passed for 1500 yards (the previous rushing record for QBs was 1,494).

Seven quarterbacks have achieved this milestone multiple times: Brad Smith (thrice), Colin Kaepernick (thrice including 2010), Vince Young (twice), Pat White (twice), Beau Morgan (twice), Joe Webb (twice), and Joshua Cribbs (twice). Only two people have joined the 1000/1000 club as freshmen: Brad Smith of Missouri, and Joshua Cribbs of Kent State. Air Force leads the overall list with five different QBs, in six different seasons, in the 1000/1000 club. (It is interesting that an instrument of American capitalist imperialism, the U.S. Air Force Academy, is the premier exponent of communist football.)

The list below of 1000/1000 members is sorted this list by rushing yards. Cameron Newton and Colin Kaepernick also reached the 1000/1000 mark in 2010.

Player

Team

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Denard Robinson

MICH

2010

1,702

2,570

4,272

Beau Morgan**

Air Force

1996

1,494

1,210

2,704

Cameron Newton

Auburn

2010

1,473

2,854

4,327

Joe Webb

UAB

2009

1,427

2,229

3,726

Jammal Lord

Nebraska

2002

1,412

1,362

2,774

Brad Smith

Missouri

2003

1,406

1,977

3,383

Chris McCoy

Navy

1997

1,370

1,203

2,573

Patrick White

W. Virginia

2007

1,335

1,724

3,059

Brian Mitchell

La.-Lafayette

1989

1,311

1,966

3,277

Brad Smith

Missouri

2005

1,301

2,304

3,605

Dee Dowis

Air Force

1989

1,286

1,285

2,571

Beau Morgan

Air Force

1995

1,285

1,165

2,450

Antwaan Randle El*

Indiana

2000

1,270

1,783

3,053

Johnny Bright (HB)

Drake

1950

1,232

1,168

2,400

Chance Herridge

Air Force

2002

1,229

1,062

2,291

Patrick White

W. Virginia

2006

1,219

1,655

2,874

Keith Boyea

Air Force

2001

1,216

1,253

2,469

Colin Kaepernick

Nevada

2010

1,206

3,022

4,228

Ricky Dobbs

Navy

2009

1,203

1,031

2,234

Colin Kaepernick

Nevada

2009

1,183

2,052

3,235

Dwight Dasher

Middle Tenn.

2009

1,154

2,789

3,943

Michael Desormeaux

La.-Lafayette

2007

1,141

1,405

2,546

Colin Kaepernick

Nevada

2008

1,130

2,849

3,979

Dan LeFevour

Central Mich.

2007

1,122

3,652

4,774

Eric Crouch

Nebraska

2001

1,115

1,510

2,625

Craig Candeto

Navy

2003

1,112

1,140

2,252

Scott Frost

Nebraska

1997

1,095

1,237

2,332

Michael Carter

Hawaii

1991

1,092

1,172

2,264

Vince Young

Texas

2004

1,079

1,849

2,928

Joshua Cribbs

Kent State

2002

1,057

1,014

2,071

Vince Young

Texas

2005

1,050

3,036

4,086

Josh Nesbitt

Ga. Tech

2009

1,037

1,701

2,738

Bart Weiss

Air Force

1985

1,032

1,449

2,481

Ell Roberson

Kansas St.

2002

1,032

1,580

2,612

Brad Smith (Fr.)

Missouri

2002

1,029

2,333

3,362

Joe Webb

UAB

2008

1,021

2,367

3,388

Joshua Cribbs (Fr.)

Kent State

2001

1,019

1,516

2,535

Reggie Collier

So. Miss.

1981

1,005

1,004

2,009

Darian Hagan

Colorado

1989

1,004

1,002

2,006

Woodrow Dantzler

Clemson

2001

1,004

2,360

3,364

* Previous Big Ten record for rushing yards by a quarterback
** Previous NCAA FBS (I-A) record for rushing yards by a QB

All-Purpose Touchdowns

There are different ways to calculate touchdown records. The Michigan record book tracks touchdowns scored; i.e., the player who has the ball in his hands in the end zone. The NCAA also tracks all-purpose TDs; i.e., the combination of passing touchdowns and touchdowns scored, something that Michigan does not track.

What is interesting is that we actually do have game-by-game accounts of touchdowns scored going back to the beginnings of Michigan football in 1879. As a result, Michigan does track touchdowns scored on an all-time basis, and not just for the modern era. The all-time Michigan record for touchdowns scored is held by Al Herrnstein, who scored 26 touchdowns in 1902.

In order to look at all-purpose touchdowns, I had to go back and look at individual season statistics to compile the data. I actually went through the game-by-game accounts of the 1901-1905 seasons from the Michigan Alumnus in order to get accurate information about touchdown statistics in the Fielding Yost "point-a-minute" era, and reviewed old NCAA research on pre-1937 touchdown statistics. It's possible that there are other pre-WWII players that I've missed.

According to the stats I've been able to find, Robinson is indeed out front with 32 all-purpose touchdowns in 2010, more than any player in the 121-year history of Michigan football. On a per-game basis, Denard at 2.46 per game is third only to two seasons from Tom Harmon, who scored 23 touchdowns (including a kickoff return and an interception return) over 8 games in 1940, for an average of 2.88. (Harmon also scored 2.50 touchdowns per game in 1939, though over 8 games compared to Denard's 13.) The only asterisk is that I don't have information on passing touchdowns for the Yost-era teams.

Here is the table, sorted by touchdowns per game, with a cutoff of 1.60. Remarkably, the 1901 team had three separate players score at that pace:

Name

Yr.

Pass TD

Rush TD

Rec TD

Kick TD

Int TD

TD

G

TD/G

Tom Harmon, LHB

1940

7

14

0

1

1

23

8

2.88

Tom Harmon, RHB

1939

6

13

0

0

1

20

8

2.50

Denard Robinson, QB

2010

18

14

0

0

0

32

13

2.46

Rick Leach, QB

1978

17

12

0

0

0

29

12

2.42

Al Herrnstein, RHB

1902

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

26

11

2.36

Steve Smith, QB

1981

15

12

0

0

0

27

12

2.25

Chad Henne, QB

2004

25

2

0

0

0

27

12

2.25

Willie Heston, LHB

1904

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

20

9

2.22

Drew Henson, QB

2000

18

2

0

0

0

20

9

2.22

Ron Johnson, RHB

1968

0

19

0

0

0

19

9

2.11

Steve Smith, QB

1983

13

10

0

0

0

23

11

2.09

Elvis Grbac, QB

1991

25

0

0

0

0

25

12

2.08

Chad Henne, QB

2005

23

1

0

0

0

24

12

2.00

John Navarre, QB

2003

24

0

1

0

0

25

13

1.92

Rick Leach, QB

1976

13

10

0

0

0

23

12

1.92

Steve Smith, QB

1982

14

9

0

0

0

23

12

1.92

Desmond Howard, SE

1991

0

2

19

2

0

23

12

1.92

Willie Heston, LHB

1901

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

20

11

1.82

Bob Chappuis, LHB

1947

15

5

0

0

0

20

11

1.82

John Navarre, QB

2002

21

2

0

0

0

23

13

1.77

Elvis Grbac, QB

1990

21

0

0

0

0

21

12

1.75

Tom Brady, QB

1999

20

1

0

0

0

21

12

1.75

Neil Snow, FB

1901

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

19

11

1.73

Bruce Shorts, RT

1901

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

17

10

1.70

Chad Henne, QB

2006

22

0

0

0

0

22

13

1.69

Willie Heston, LHB

1902

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

15

9

1.67

Note that Bruce Shorts scored 17 TDs as an offensive lineman: now those were the days!

The NCAA FBS (I-A) single-season record is 63 touchdowns, by Colt Brennan of Hawaii in 2006 (58 passing, 5 rushing). The per-game record is 5.0 in 1990, by David Klingler of Houston (55 TDs in 11 games).

The FBS single-season record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback is 27, by Ricky Dobbs of Navy in 2009 (in 14 games). The season record for most touchdowns scored (i.e., excluding TD passes thrown) is 39, by Barry Sanders in 1988 over 11 games.

Tim Tebow and Cameron Newton are the only players to have both thrown and run for 20 touchdowns: in 2007, Tebow threw for 32 and ran for 23, and Newton threw for 30 and ran for 20 in 2010. (Dan LeFevour of Central Michigan threw for 27, ran for 19, and caught 1 in 2007.)

The Michigan career record for most touchdowns scored is held by Yost-era legend Willie Heston, with 69 from 1901-1904 (the Michigan record book lists Heston at 72 TDs, which is incorrect according to my game-by-game tally). The Michigan record for most all-purpose touchdowns is held by Chad Henne, who threw for 87 and ran for 3 (for a total of 90) from 2004-2007. If Denard plays through his senior season, it's possible that he could break Henne's record.

Here is the team photo of the all-time great team of 1901, courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library. Al Herrnstein is the right-most player in the front row. Neil Snow is the second from the left in the middle row. Willie Heston is right-most in the middle row. Fielding Yost is in the center of the back row. The "501-0" football that captain Hugh White is holding reflects the fact that this picture was taken before the team beat Stanford 49-0 in the inaugural Rose Bowl game of 1902. The lopsided score so disappointed Rose Bowl officials that they didn't hold a second Rose Bowl game until 1916.

Total Offense

Denard already owns the Michigan single-game total offense record (502 yards against Notre Dame). In fact, Denard has broken the old Michigan single-game total offense record four times this year, with games of 502, 494, 383, and 381 yards. (The previous record was 368 by John Navarre against Iowa in 2003.) Against Illinois and Wisconsin, Denard almost broke this record again, gaining 367 and 360 yards respectively: giving him six of the seven highest totals in Michigan history.

Player

Opponent

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Denard Robinson

Notre Dame

2010

258

244

502

Denard Robinson

Indiana

2010

217

277

494

Denard Robinson

Connecticut

2010

197

186

383

Denard Robinson

Penn State

2010

191

190

381

John Navarre

Iowa

2003

-21

389

368

Denard Robinson

Illinois

2010

62

305

367

Denard Robinson

Wisconsin

2010

121

239

360

Scott Dreisbach

Virginia

1995

-14

372

358

As noted above, Denard has annihilated John Navarre's single-season total offense record of 3,240 in 2003 with 4,272 in 2010.

The Big Ten single-game total offense record is 585 yards by Dave Wilson of Illinois, vs. Ohio State in 1980. The Big Ten single-season total offense record had been 4,189 yards by Drew Brees of Purdue in 2000.

The NCAA total offense records are dominated by prolific passers. Those records appear to be unattainable by Denard: 732 yards for a single game (David Klingler, Houston vs. Arizona State, 1990); 5,976 for a season (B.J. Symons, Texas Tech, 2003); 16,910 for a career (Timmy Chang, Hawaii, 2000-2004).

Total Offense Per Play

As with total offense records, Denard could not keep up his early 2010 pace, and his performances against Big Ten opponents that year left him further behind the pace. Through the bowl game, Denard had 4,272 yards of total offense in 547 plays, for an average of 7.8. This fell just shy of a Michigan single-season record: the current record is held by Drew Henson, who in 2000 gained 2,140 yards on 270 plays for an average of 7.9.

Here are the NCAA FBS records for a single game: 14.3 by Jason Martin (La. Tech vs. Toledo, 1996) in 37 plays and 9.9 by David Klingler (Houston vs. TCU, 1990) in 63 plays. Denard came pretty close to Martin in the Indiana game, where in 35 plays he averaged 14.1 yards per play (which is almost certainly a Michigan and quite likely a Big Ten record):

Denard Robinson

Attempts + Carries

Total Offense

Yards per Play

Connecticut

51

383

7.51

Notre Dame

68

502

7.38

Massachusetts

31

345

11.13

Bowling Green

9

189

21.00

Indiana

35

494

14.11

Michigan State

50

301

6.02

Iowa

36

201

5.58

Penn State

50

381

7.62

Illinois

39

367

9.41

Purdue

43

244

5.67

Wisconsin

47

360

7.66

Ohio State

36

192

5.33

Mississippi State

52

313

6.02

TOTAL

547

4,272

7.81

NCAA Records

Attempts + Carries

Total Offense

Yards per Play

Game: Jason Martin (La. Tech vs. Toledo, 1996)

37

529

14.30

Game: David Klingler (Houston vs. TCU, 1990)

63

625

9.92

Season: Colt Brennan (Hawaii, 2006)

645

5,915

9.17

Career: Sam Bradford (Oklahoma, 2007-09)

970

8,439

8.70

As you can see in the table, for a single season (minimum 3,000 yards), the record is 9.2 by Colt Brennan (Hawaii, 2006). For a career (minimum 7,500 yards) it's 8.7 by Sam Bradford (Oklahoma, 2007-2009).

Passing Efficiency

Passing efficiency is a statistic that rewards quarterbacks for yards, touchdowns, and completions per attempt, and punishes them for interceptions per attempt. The NCAA formula, which differs from the NFL one, is:

Highest efficiency rating, career (min. 200 attempts): 148.1 (Elvis Grbac, 1989-1992) (Denard is at 144.0 for his career, good for 4th all-time and on pace for 6th all-time in the Big Ten)

Bob Chappuis' Michigan single-season mark is also the Big Ten single-season record. (That’s him on the right. Check out that throwing motion.) The NCAA FBS pass efficiency record belongs to Colt Brennan of Hawaii, who reached 186.0 in 2006: out of Denard's reach.

Other Michigan Passing Records

At the end of 2009, here were some of the other Michigan passing records. Denard broke one of them in 2010 (Tate broke one as well):

Other Michigan Rushing Records

At the end of 2009, here were the other relevant Michigan rushing records. On average yards per carry, Denard one of the single-game records Michigan tracks, but is surprisingly far from the other ones (not that that couldn't change in a hurry). The single-season and career records were within reach, but are obviously uncertain now:

Also, Denard is one of 5 quarterbacks in NCAA history to record 5 consecutive 100-yard rushing games (the others are Ricky Dobbs of Navy in 2009, Joe Webb of Alabama-Birmingham in 2009, Brian Madden of Navy in 1999, and Beau Morgan of Air Force in 1995). No one has done it 6 times in a row.

Team Offense

Michigan averaged 488.7 yards per game in total offense in 2010, ninth-highest in Big Ten history. (First place belongs to Penn State's 1994 team, which averaged 512.7 yards per game.) If you take out the 72 extra yards Michigan gained in the three overtimes against Illinois, Michigan averaged 483.2 yards per game.

Either way, the 2010 offense demolished the old Michigan total offense record of 466.9, set in 1992, when Gary Moeller roamed the sidelines, barking orders to Elvis Grbac, Desmond Howard, and Tyrone Wheatley.

Big Ten All-Time Leaders

Year

YPG (Total Offense)

1. Penn State

1994

512.7

2. Northwestern

2005

500.3

3. Ohio State

1998

497.6

4. Michigan State

2005

497.3

5. Minnesota

2005

494.8

6. Minnesota

2003

494.6

7. Ohio State

1974

493.2

8. Ohio State

1996

490.4

9. MICH (including overtime)

2010

488.7

9. MICH (regulation only)

2010

483.2

10. Michigan State

1978

481.3

11. Ohio State

1995

478.6

Michigan All-Time Leaders (QB/WR/RB)

Year

YPG (Total Offense)

1. Robinson / Roundtree / Smith (regulation)

2010

483.2

2. Grbac / Howard / Wheatley

1992

466.9

3. Navarre / Edwards / Perry

2003

446.7

4. Henson / Terrell / Thomas

2000

446.1

5. Grbac / Howard / Vaughn

1990

432.5

In terms of scoring offense, Michigan is averaging 31.1 points per game in regulation (32.8 points per game including the overtime scoring), stats that lag the total offense by yardage due to our terrible kicking and defense. The 7-point output against Ohio State brought the season average outside of Michigan's top 10 all-time teams.

Year

1902

1904

1901

1903

1947

1905

1976

1992

2003

*2010

PPG

58.5

56.7

50.5

47.1

39.4

38.1

36.0

35.9

35.4

31.1

* - Excludes points scored in overtime

The Fielding Yost "point-a-minute" teams averaged 50.5, 58.5, 47.1, 56.7, and 38.1 points per game from 1901 to 1905. Fritz Crisler's 1947 national championship team of Bob Chappuis and Bump Elliott, nicknamed the "Mad Magicians," averaged 39.4. (The official Michigan record book erroneously lists the 1947 average as second-highest in school history; it is missing the performances of 1901, 1903, 1904, and 1905.)

Dynamic offenses have been few and far between in the postwar era. The 1976 Bo Schembechler team, led by Rick Leach and Rob Lytle, scored 36.0 points per game, and owns the rushing season record with 345.3 yards per game. The aforementioned 1992 team averaged 35.9 points; and the 2003 team averaged 35.4.

Here are some other stats:

Michigan averaged 6.8 yards per play in 2010, which is most all-time in Michigan history (the previous record was 6.4 yards, in 1992 and 1947).

Michigan averaged 238.5 rushing yards per game (inclusive of OT; 236.3 regulation-only). (The Big Ten record is 349.9 in 1974 by Ohio State; the Michigan record is 345.3 in 1976.)

Michigan averaged 5.6 yards per carry, third-highest in Michigan history (the current record is 5.9 per carry in 1976).

Michigan averaged 250.2 passing yards per game (inclusive of OT; 246.9 regulation), 3rd all-time in Michigan history. (The record is 270.8 in 2003.)

Michigan averaged 23.0 first downs per game (inclusive; 22.8 regulation-only), second-highest in Michigan history. (The current record is 23.9 in 2003.) Over 13 games, Michigan gained 299 first downs, good for somewhere around 11th place all-time in the Big Ten (the Big Ten record is 328 by Northwestern in 2005).

Miscellaneous Records

As most of you know, against Illinois, Roy Roundtree destroyed a 44-year-old Michigan single-game receiving record, by gaining 246 yards (on 9 catches with 2 TDs). The old record was set in 1966, when Jack Clancy (pictured) gained 197 yards against Oregon State.

Roundtree's mark wouldn't even make the top ten all-time in the Big Ten: the Big Ten record is 301 by Chris Daniels of Purdue against MSU in 1999; the NCAA record is 405 by Troy Edwards of Louisiana Tech against Nebraska in 1998.

Standard Disclaimers

Wins are more important than stats. The existence of this diary is not meant to imply that individual achievement is more important than the achievement of the team. It is, instead, to pay tribute to Denard's exceptional individual achievement within the context of a (hopefully, someday) successful team. With a few minor exceptions, Denard's stats don't come at the expense of the team: when he rushes for 250 yards or has a QB rating of 270, the team is usually doing well. If you object to this point of view, you don't have to read further.

Past performance is not a predictor of future results. Especially now that *sniff* Communist Football has been exiled from Ann Arbor.

The quarterback position has evolved significantly. The forward pass was only formally legalized in 1906. From the 1910s until the 1950s, the most common college football formation was Pop Warner's single-wing, in which the quarterback's role was primarily as a blocker, and most passes were thrown by a tailback or halfback. The idea of a quarterback as the primary passer began to take hold after World War II, when coaches such as Clark Shaughnessy at Chicago and Stanford and Paul Brown at Ohio State took advantage of a recently redesigned football that was easier to throw, and married the ancient T formation to the threat of longer passes downfield.

The record books are murky from 1869 to 1937. Something to keep in mind is that the record books don't actually go back that far in time. At the national level, official statistics have only been recorded since 1937: a mere 52 percent of college football's history. Indeed, the first rules for compiling football statistics were formulated prior to the 1941 season by an NCAA committee headed by Fielding Yost. (College football has been around since 1869.) One has to assume that Yost's point-a-minute teams would have harbored some record-producing players, though the game was quite different then, as noted above. So, to be as precise as possible, we should describe all of these records as modern-era, postwar records.

Post-1978 records are for Division I-A only. Let me note that all the records here are for Division I-A (FBS), but do include all Division I records prior to the I-A / I-AA split in 1978. I don't really care about who did what in the other divisions, given the inferior level of competition. Personally, I would prefer to eliminate the non-automatically qualifying BCS conferences, but since the NCAA doesn't do that, I won't.

Post-1996 overtime and pre-1912 scoring rules skew historical comparisons. The NCAA introduced overtime to I-A football in 1996, and soon after determined that points and yards gained in overtime would count toward NCAA records. Given that teams and players did not have the benefit of overtime prior to 1996, I try wherever possible to exclude overtime stats (or at least give both sets of numbers). The modern convention of TDs worth 6 points (+1 PAT) and FGs worth 3 began in 1912. From 1869 to 1882, touchdowns, extra points, and field goals were all worth one point each. From 1882-1883, TDs were worth 2, PATs 4, and FGs 5; from 1884-1897, TDs 4, PATs 2, FGs 5; from 1898-1903, TDs 5, PATs 1, FGs 5; from 1904-1908, TDs 5, PATs 1, FGs 4; from 1901-1911, TDs 5, PATs 1, FGs 3. The two-point conversion was introduced in 1958. I currently don't have the breakdown of TDs, PATs, and FGs for the Yost teams; if anyone else does, I would be pleased to adjust those numbers accordingly so as to make apples-to-apples comparisons with modern teams. The rules of college football evolved rapidly from 1879 to 1930, making strict comparisons difficult. For example, the goal posts were moved from the goal line to the end line (10 yards back of the goal line) only in 1927, which has a huge impact on field goal kicking, and the width of the uprights has varied significantly over time.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Comrade tf (Michigan rushing single-game record) and danieljpaul (Denard's season totals) for corrections. H/T to tubauberalles and enlightenedbum for tracking down the FBS single-game QB rushing record. Comrades Raoul and UM in VA persuaded me to post the total offense numbers, and pointed out Denard's ridiculous per-play stats, which I also added to the diary. Trebor pointed out that we should keep an eye on the impressive seasons of Taylor Martinez and Cam Newton. Comrade U of M in TX helped identify a few updating errors. Raoul also suggested putting in the team offense stats. Hillhaus pointed out that I should discuss the pre-1912 scoring conventions. Raoul and BigHouseInmate suggested I look into Michigan's all-purpose touchdown records, which ended up being a lot of fun. And finally, thanks to all of you for enjoying the Almanack each week of the 2010 season. That's what made it worth my while. Good bye and good luck.

Given that the Molotov cocktails (and even SS-20 nuclear missiles) were flying last week, it only made sense to wait until this weekend to put forth the latest edition of the Almanack. Doing so also allowed me to incorporate the statistics from the games played yesterday.

It will be interesting to see how Denard does against Mississippi State's stout defense, ranked 20th in rushing defense and 50th in pass efficiency defense. This, of course, assumes that Denard's dislocated fingers are healed up by then: something I don't take for granted, though he should be ok.

Congratulations to Denard for being named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. He also finished the Big Ten season in first place for total offense (conference games only) with 317.5 yards per game. Roy Roundtree led all Big Ten receivers with 83.9 yards per game, and Will Hagerup led all punters with 46.0 yards per punt.

The last Michigan players to lead the Big Ten in those categories? Jim Harbaugh (247.4 YPG in 1986), Mario Manningham (109.8 YPG in 2007), and Zoltan Mesko (45.2 YPG in 2009).

Prefatory Verbiage

Suggestions are welcome. If you have found an interesting statistic or record that you think I should add to this list, please put it in the comments section and I'll add it to the original post (and give you credit).

Review the disclaimers. Football has evolved considerably over its 141-year history, much more so than other major sports, and that is important to keep in mind when talking about all-time records. The existence of this diary is not meant to imply that individual achievement is more important than the achievement of the team.

New This Week

New to this week's Almanack is a section on all-purpose touchdowns, which I published after the Wisconsin game as a separate diary. I've also tried to liven up the sesquipedalian text with some historical photos, along with Monumental's remarkable Denard action figure.

Week in Review: Denard Finds A New Way to Get Injured

Statistically speaking, Denard had a pretty good first half against OSU, running for 95 yards and throwing the ball reasonably well against an outstanding pass defense. But he left late in the second quarter with two dislocated fingers, came back for one drive in the second half, and didn't play the rest of the way.

Unlike the Iowa game, where Tate Forcier was able to give M a spark, OSU's talented secondary shut Tate down, and Robinson's running ability was sorely missed. Denard ended up with 105 yards rushing on 18 carries for 5.83 YPC, including a critical red-zone fumble. He also threw for 87 yards on 8/18 attempts and no TDs, for a season-worst QB rating of 85.04.

Hopefully, the break before the bowl game allows Denard to recover fully from his various nicks and bumps.

Of the other prominant dual-threat QBs, Cam Newton cemented his Heisman-leading status by getting absurdly cleared by the NCAA, and rushing for 112 yards and passing for 551 in two impressive victories against Alabama and South Carolina. Colin Kaepernick ran for 45 and threw for 259 in a scintillating upset of Boise State, then ran roughshod over Louisiana Tech with 155 on the ground and 159 through the air. Taylor Martinez missed Nebraska's regular-season finale against Colorado, and got destroyed by Oklahoma's defense in the Big 12 championship game, rushing for minus 32 yards and going 12/24 for 50 yards and an INT through the air.

LaMichael James, Denard's leading rival for the FBS rushing title, ran for 126 against Arizona and 134 against Oregon State, to reclaim the lead in the rushing yardage race. As James' last game will be against Auburn's ferocious defense, Denard has a shot at catching him.

Denard is 175 yards short of tying Tim Biakabutuka's Michigan single-season rushing record of 1,818 yards, set in 1995. If he manages to stay healthy for an entire game, this record will certainly be within reach. (His 2010 per-game average is 136.9.) He currently sits fifth in Michigan's modern era in single-season rushing yards: the only backs ahead of him are Biakabutuka, Anthony Thomas, Jamie Morris, and Chris Perry. If Denard gains 100 yards in the bowl game, he will have ten 100-yard games on the season, tying a Michigan record held by Jamie Morris.

Our Comrade from Deerfield Beach is 230 yards away from setting the Big Ten single-season total offense record, currently held by Drew Brees with 4,189 yards in 2000. (Denard's 2010 per-game average is 329.9.) Denard currently sits fifth in the Big Ten's modern era in this category.

Denard is 184 yards short of 2,500 passing for the season, which would make him the first person in major college history to throw for 2,500 and run for 1,500 in the same season.

Though his average keeps trickling down, Denard still holds the Michigan career yards-per-carry record with a minimum of 200 attempts, with 6.4 YPC. The previous record had been held by 6.3 YPC by Jon Vaughn (from 1989-1990).

Denard lost his hold of the Michigan career pass-efficiency record with a minimum of 200 attempts, as the Ohio State game brough him down to 146.2. The current record is 148.1 by Elvis Grbac (from 1989-1992), though Elvis had the benefit of a Heisman Trophy-winning receiver. Denard's 146.2 mark is also on pace for fourth all-time in the Big Ten, though he needs 300 completions to qualify for that record (he currently has 169).

Denard remains on pace to break the Michigan single-season total offense per play record, with 8.0 yards per play as of this week. The current record is held by Drew Henson, who recorded 7.9 YPP in 2000.

Quarterbacks as NCAA Rushing Champions

A quarterback has never led the NCAA FBS in rushing yards over a single season. In 1937, the first year in which the NCAA kept official football statistics, Colorado halfback Byron "Whizzer" White led the nation in rushing with 1,121 yards, along with 475 passing yards. (If that wasn't enough, White also went to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, played in the NFL for Pittsburgh and Detroit, served in World War II during which he was awarded two Bronze Stars, came back and graduated from Yale Law School, and was appointed by John F. Kennedy to the Supreme Court of the United States.)

This year, Denard could become the first quarterback in history to finish the season as the NCAA rushing champion (by yards gained). He currently has gained 1,643 yards on the ground, 39 yards behind LaMichael James. Bobby Rainey of Western Kentucky has also edged ahead of Denard by 6 yards, but the 2-10 Hilltoppers are not headed to a bowl game this year.

On a yards-per-game basis, James is in first place with 152.9 (Denard has fallen to fourth with 136.9, behind James, Rainey, and Connecticut's Jordan Todman). Personally, I find the YPG statistic to be arbitrary: should Denard be punished because the Bowling Green game was a rout, and LaMichael James be rewarded because he was suspended for one game for pleading guilty to harrassing his ex-girlfriend? FWIW, on a yards-per-carry basis, Denard is well ahead of James.

Here are the top 5 rushers in the country, sorted by yards gained:

Player

Team

Carries

Yards

YPC

Games

YPG

TD

LaMichael James

Oregon

281

1,682

5.99

*11

139.8

14

Bobby Rainey

W. Kentucky

340

1,649

4.85

12

135.6

13

Denard Robinson

MICH

245

1,643

6.71

12

132.8

16

Jordan Todman

Connecticut

302

1,574

5.21

11

158.0

17

Lance Dunbar

North Texas

274

1,553

5.67

12

124.6

13

* - LaMichael James was suspended for Oregon's first game against
New Mexico for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor.

Rushing Yards by a QB, Single-Game

Denard currently holds the Michigan and Big Ten records for rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game: 258 vs. Notre Dame. The NCAA FBS record is 308, on 22 attempts, by Stacey Robinson of Northern Illinois, against Fresno State, on Oct. 6, 1990. The previous Michigan single-game record was held by another #16, Steve Smith, who ran for 147 yards on four carries against Minnesota in 1983.

Rushing Yards by a QB, Single-Season

Denard currently has 1,643 rushing yards in 12 games. This projects to 1,780 over a 13-game schedule. He owns the NCAA FBS (I-A) record, previously set by Beau Morgan of Air Force in 1996 with 1,494 yards. The Big Ten record was previously in the hands of Antwaan Randle-El in 2000 with 1,270 yards. Denard has destroyed the previous Michigan record for QB rushing yards in a season: 674 by Steve Smith in 1981.

Before you get too overwhelmed by all the numbers in this diary, just stop and think about that for a minute. Denard Robinson, your starting Michigan quarterback, playing before your very eyes, is on pace to almost triple a Michigan rushing record. And not just any record, but one that has stood for three decades. Even if you account for the fact that we're playing a very different style of football now—it's just incredible.

Rushing Yards by a QB, Career

There's no point in projecting Denard's career rushing totals, since there are a number of variables (does he stay his senior year? Does a great tailback lighten his rushing load?). But here are the records:

Michigan's career record is held by Rick Leach (1975-1978) at 2,176 yards: a record Denard could break this year, at his current pace. Denard needs 182 yards in the bowl game to take this title. (Guys like Leach and Steve Smith must salivate at what they could have done in the offense of Comrade Rodriguez.) The Big Ten record is Antwaan Randel El's (1998-2001) at 3,895 yards. The NCAA FBS record is held by Pat White (2005-2008) at 4,480 yards.

The NCAA FBS per-game career record is 109.1 yards by Stacey Robinson of Northern Illinois, achieved from 1988-1990 over 25 games.

Rushing Records (At Any Position)

For a single game, the Michigan record is 347 by Ron Johnson (pictured) in 1968 against Wisconsin; the Big Ten record is 377 by Anthony Thompson of Indiana in 1989 against Wisconsin; the NCAA FBS record is 406 by LaDainian Tomlinson of TCU in 1999 against UTEP.

For a single season, the Michigan record is 1,818 yards (Tshimanga Biakabutuka, 1995); the Big Ten record is 2,087 yards (Larry Johnson, Penn St., 2002); the NCAA FBS record is 2,628 yards (Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State, 1988). Denard can break Touchdown Tim's Michigan record by gaining 176 yards in the bowl game.

That Barry Sanders record will be around for a long time. At one point, Denard was on pace to break Larry Johnson's Big Ten rushing record, but he has slowed down as the schedule has gotten tougher, and that record now looks out of reach for this year.

For a career, the Michigan record is held by Mike Hart (5,040 yards, 2004-2007); the Big Ten record is held by Ron Dayne (7,125 yards, 1996-1999); the NCAA FBS record is also held by Ron Dayne, but they list it as 6,397 yards. (Herschel Walker of Georgia holds the record for a 3-year career at 5,259 yards, set from 1980-1982.)

The 200/200 Club

Denard is the only player in FBS history to gain 200 yards rushing and 200 yards passing twice—in regular-season games. To me this is a silly distinction: who cares if it was done in the regular season or a bowl game? If anything, Vince Young's performance in the 2005 Rose Bowl against USC is even more remarkable, given that that USC team is considered one of the most dominant teams of the modern era. Wake me up when Denard gets his third 200/200 game. (He did go for 191/190 against Penn State.)

Anyway, here are the 200/200 games listed in the NCAA record book, sorted by total offense. You'll note that Denard is the only member of the 240/240 club, and Marques Tuiasosopo is the only member of the 200/300 club.

Pictured at right is Penn halfback Francis "Reds" Bagnell, 1950 Heisman Trophy runner-up and great-uncle to MGoComrade Dandaman. Bagnell was the first member of the 200/200 club. It took 36 years for a second player to accomplish the feat.

Player

Team (Opponent)

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Marques Tuiasosopo

Washington (Stanford)

1999

207

302

509

Vince Young

Texas (Oklahoma St.)

2005

267

239

506

Denard Robinson

MICH (Notre Dame)

2010

258

244

502

Denard Robinson

MICH (Indiana)

2010

217

277

494

Reds Bagnell

Penn (Dartmouth)

1950

214

276

490

Brad Smith

Missouri (Nebraska)

2005

246

234

480

Brian Mitchell

La.-Lafayette (Colo. St.)

1987

271

205

476

Antwaan Randle-El

Indiana (Minnesota)

2000

210

263

473

Vince Young

Texas (USCRose Bowl)

2005

200

267

467

Patrick White

W. Va. (Pittsburgh)

2006

220

204

424

Steve Gage

Tulsa (New Mexico)

1986

212

209

421

The 1500/2000 Club

There is one quarterback in college football history—Division I, II, or III—who has both rushed for 1,500 yards and passed for 2,000 yards in the same season.

Player

Team

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Denard Robinson

MICH

2010

1,643

2,316

3,959

The 1500/1500 Club

There is one quarterback in major college football history who has both rushed and passed for 1,500 yards in the same season.

Player

Team

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Denard Robinson

MICH

2010

1,643

2,316

3,959

The 1000/1000 Club

Johnny Bright, a halfback from Drake, was the first member of the 1000/1000 Club, the same year Reds Bagnell joined the 200/200 Club. In 1951, Wilbanks Smith, a racist defensive tackle from Oklahoma A&M (later Oklahoma State), deliberately broke Bright's jaw, permanently damaging his football career. The incident led the NCAA to mandate the usage of face masks, and earned the 1952 Pulitzer Prize for the photographers who documented the assault. Drake temporarily withdrew from the Missouri Valley Conference to protest the fact that the conference didn't discipline Smith for the attack.

When Bright graduated from Drake in 1951, he held the NCAA career total offense record, with 5,903 yards: a record that stood for 15 years. It took three decades for another player to join the 1000/1000 Club. Tragically, Bright died at the age of 53 of a massive heart attack.

Today, there are 30 quarterbacks (and one halfback) in FBS who have run and thrown for 1000 yards in the same season. Other than Denard, none have both run and passed for 1500 yards (the previous rushing record for QBs is 1,494).

Seven quarterbacks have achieved this milestone multiple times: Brad Smith (thrice), Colin Kaepernick (thrice including this year), Vince Young (twice), Pat White (twice), Beau Morgan (twice), Joe Webb (twice), and Joshua Cribbs (twice). Only two people have joined the 1000/1000 club as freshmen: Brad Smith of Missouri, and Joshua Cribbs of Kent State. Air Force leads the overall list with five different QBs, in six different seasons, in the 1000/1000 club. (It is interesting that an instrument of American capitalist imperialism, the U.S. Air Force Academy, is the premier exponent of communist football.)

The list below of 1000/1000 members is sorted this list by rushing yards. Cameron Newton and Colin Kaepernick have also reached the 1000/1000 mark this season. I've also added 2010 season totals for Taylor Martinez, who may also get there. Newton is also likely to join Denard as a 1500-yard rusher.

Player

Team

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Newton (on pace for)

Auburn

2010

1,517

2,788

4,306

Dilithium (on pace for)

MICH

2010

1,780

2,509

4,289

Denard Robinson

MICH

2010

1,642

2,316

3,959

Beau Morgan**

Air Force

1996

1,494

1,210

2,704

Joe Webb

UAB

2009

1,427

2,229

3,726

Jammal Lord

Nebraska

2002

1,412

1,362

2,774

Cameron Newton

Auburn

2010

1,409

2,589

3,998

Brad Smith

Missouri

2003

1,406

1,977

3,383

Chris McCoy

Navy

1997

1,370

1,203

2,573

Patrick White

W. Virginia

2007

1,335

1,724

3,059

Brian Mitchell

La.-Lafayette

1989

1,311

1,966

3,277

Brad Smith

Missouri

2005

1,301

2,304

3,605

Dee Dowis

Air Force

1989

1,286

1,285

2,571

Beau Morgan

Air Force

1995

1,285

1,165

2,450

Antwaan Randle El*

Indiana

2000

1,270

1,783

3,053

Johnny Bright (HB)

Drake

1950

1,232

1,168

2,400

Chance Herridge

Air Force

2002

1,229

1,062

2,291

Patrick White

W. Virginia

2006

1,219

1,655

2,874

Keith Boyea

Air Force

2001

1,216

1,253

2,469

Ricky Dobbs

Navy

2009

1,203

1,031

2,234

Colin Kaepernick

Nevada

2009

1,183

2,052

3,235

Colin Kaepernick

Nevada

2010

1,181

2,830

4,011

Dwight Dasher

Middle Tenn.

2009

1,154

2,789

3,943

Michael Desormeaux

La.-Lafayette

2007

1,141

1,405

2,546

Colin Kaepernick

Nevada

2008

1,130

2,849

3,979

Dan LeFevour

Central Mich.

2007

1,122

3,652

4,774

Eric Crouch

Nebraska

2001

1,115

1,510

2,625

Craig Candeto

Navy

2003

1,112

1,140

2,252

Scott Frost

Nebraska

1997

1,095

1,237

2,332

Michael Carter

Hawaii

1991

1,092

1,172

2,264

Vince Young

Texas

2004

1,079

1,849

2,928

Joshua Cribbs

Kent State

2002

1,057

1,014

2,071

Vince Young

Texas

2005

1,050

3,036

4,086

Josh Nesbitt

Ga. Tech

2009

1,037

1,701

2,738

Bart Weiss

Air Force

1985

1,032

1,449

2,481

Ell Roberson

Kansas St.

2002

1,032

1,580

2,612

Brad Smith (Fr.)

Missouri

2002

1,029

2,333

3,362

Joe Webb

UAB

2008

1,021

2,367

3,388

Joshua Cribbs (Fr.)

Kent State

2001

1,019

1,516

2,535

Reggie Collier

So. Miss.

1981

1,005

1,004

2,009

Darian Hagan

Colorado

1989

1,004

1,002

2,006

Woodrow Dantzler

Clemson

2001

1,004

2,360

3,364

Taylor Martinez

Nebraska

2010

942

1,578

2,520

* Previous Big Ten record for rushing yards by a quarterback
** Previous NCAA FBS (I-AA) record for rushing yards by a QB

All-Purpose Touchdowns

There are different ways to calculate touchdown records. The Michigan record book tracks touchdowns scored; i.e., the player who has the ball in his hands in the end zone. The NCAA also tracks all-purpose TDs; i.e., the combination of passing touchdowns and touchdowns scored, something that Michigan does not track.

What is interesting is that we actually do have game-by-game accounts of touchdowns scored going back to the beginnings of Michigan football in 1879. As a result, Michigan does track touchdowns scored on an all-time basis, and not just for the modern era. The all-time Michigan record for touchdowns scored is held by Al Herrnstein, who scored 26 touchdowns in 1902.

In order to look at all-purpose touchdowns, I had to go back and look at individual season statistics to compile the data. I actually went through the game-by-game accounts of the 1901-1905 seasons from the Michigan Alumnus in order to get accurate information about touchdown statistics in the Fielding Yost "point-a-minute" era, and reviewed old NCAA research on pre-1937 touchdown statistics. It's possible that there are other pre-WWII players that I've missed.

According to the stats I've been able to find, Robinson is indeed out front with 30 all-purpose touchdowns, more than any player in the 121-year history of Michigan football. On a per-game basis, Denard at 2.50 per game is second only to Tom Harmon, who scored 23 touchdowns (including a kickoff return and an interception return) over 8 games in 1940, for an average of 2.88. (Harmon also scored 2.50 touchdowns per game in 1939, though over 8 games compared to Denard's 12.) The only asterisk is that I don't have information on passing touchdowns for the Yost-era teams.

Here is the table, sorted by touchdowns per game, with a cutoff of 1.60. Remarkably, the 1901 team had three separate players score at that pace:

Name

Yr.

Pass TD

Rush TD

Rec TD

Kick TD

Int TD

TD

G

TD/G

Tom Harmon, LHB

1940

7

14

0

1

1

23

8

2.88

Denard Robinson, QB

2010

16

14

0

0

0

30

12

2.50

Tom Harmon, RHB

1939

6

13

0

0

1

20

8

2.50

Rick Leach, QB

1978

17

12

0

0

0

29

12

2.42

Al Herrnstein, RHB

1902

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

26

11

2.36

Steve Smith, QB

1981

15

12

0

0

0

27

12

2.25

Chad Henne, QB

2004

25

2

0

0

0

27

12

2.25

Willie Heston, LHB

1904

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

20

9

2.22

Drew Henson, QB

2000

18

2

0

0

0

20

9

2.22

Ron Johnson, RHB

1968

0

19

0

0

0

19

9

2.11

Steve Smith, QB

1983

13

10

0

0

0

23

11

2.09

Elvis Grbac, QB

1991

25

0

0

0

0

25

12

2.08

Chad Henne, QB

2005

23

1

0

0

0

24

12

2.00

John Navarre, QB

2003

24

0

1

0

0

25

13

1.92

Rick Leach, QB

1976

13

10

0

0

0

23

12

1.92

Steve Smith, QB

1982

14

9

0

0

0

23

12

1.92

Desmond Howard, SE

1991

0

2

19

2

0

23

12

1.92

Willie Heston, LHB

1901

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

20

11

1.82

Bob Chappuis, LHB

1947

15

5

0

0

0

20

11

1.82

John Navarre, QB

2002

21

2

0

0

0

23

13

1.77

Elvis Grbac, QB

1990

21

0

0

0

0

21

12

1.75

Tom Brady, QB

1999

20

1

0

0

0

21

12

1.75

Neil Snow, FB

1901

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

19

11

1.73

Bruce Shorts, RT

1901

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

17

10

1.70

Chad Henne, QB

2006

22

0

0

0

0

22

13

1.69

Willie Heston, LHB

1902

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

15

9

1.67

Note that Bruce Shorts scored 17 TDs as an offensive lineman: now those were the days!

The NCAA FBS (I-A) single-season record is 63 touchdowns, by Colt Brennan of Hawaii in 2006 (58 passing, 5 rushing). The per-game record is 5.0 in 1990, by David Klingler of Houston (55 TDs in 11 games).

The FBS single-season record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback is 27, by Ricky Dobbs of Navy in 2009 (in 14 games). The season record for most touchdowns scored (i.e., excluding TD passes thrown) is 39, by Barry Sanders in 1988 over 11 games.

Tim Tebow and Cameron Newton are the only players to have both thrown and run for 20 touchdowns: in 2007, Tebow threw for 32 and ran for 23, and Newton has thrown for 28 and run for 20, with one game left. (Dan LeFevour of Central Michigan threw for 27, ran for 19, and caught 1 in 2007.)

The Michigan career record for most touchdowns scored is held by Yost-era legend Willie Heston, with 69 from 1901-1904 (the Michigan record book lists Heston at 72 TDs, which is incorrect according to my game-by-game tally). The Michigan record for most all-purpose touchdowns is held by Chad Henne, who threw for 87 and ran for 3 (for a total of 90) from 2004-2007. If Denard plays through his senior season, there is a realistic chance that he could break Henne's record.

Here is the team photo of the all-time great team of 1901, courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library. Al Herrnstein is the right-most player in the front row. Neil Snow is the second from the left in the middle row. Willie Heston is right-most in the middle row. Fielding Yost is in the center of the back row. The "501-0" football that captain Hugh White is holding reflects the fact that this picture was taken before the team beat Stanford 49-0 in the inaugural Rose Bowl game of 1902. The lopsided score so disappointed Rose Bowl officials that they didn't hold a second Rose Bowl game until 1916.

Total Offense

Denard already owns the Michigan single-game total offense record (502 yards against Notre Dame). In fact, Denard has broken the old Michigan single-game total offense record four times this year, with games of 502, 494, 383, and 381 yards. (The previous record was 368 by John Navarre against Iowa in 2003.) Against Illinois and Wisconsin, Denard almost broke this record again, gaining 367 and 360 yards respectively: giving him six of the seven highest totals in Michigan history.

Player

Opponent

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Denard Robinson

Notre Dame

2010

258

244

502

Denard Robinson

Indiana

2010

217

277

494

Denard Robinson

Connecticut

2010

197

186

383

Denard Robinson

Penn State

2010

191

190

381

John Navarre

Iowa

2003

-21

389

368

Denard Robinson

Illinois

2010

62

305

367

Denard Robinson

Wisconsin

2010

121

239

360

Scott Dreisbach

Virginia

1995

-14

372

358

As noted above, Denard has annihilated John Navarre's single-season total offense record of 3,240 in 2003 (Denard has 3,959 as of today, and projects to an astounding 4,289 yards over 13 games).

The Big Ten single-game total offense record is 585 yards by Dave Wilson of Illinois, vs. Ohio State in 1980. The Big Ten single-season total offense record is 4,189 yards by Drew Brees of Purdue in 2000, which is well within Denard's reach. Denard has to gain 231 yards of total offense in the bowl game to pass Brees; he is currently averaging 330.

The NCAA total offense records are dominated by prolific passers. Those records appear to be unattainable by Denard: 732 yards for a single game (David Klingler, Houston vs. Arizona State, 1990); 5,976 for a season (B.J. Symons, Texas Tech, 2003); 16,910 for a career (Timmy Chang, Hawaii, 2000-2004).

Total Offense Per Play

As with total offense records, these will be tough for Denard to keep pace with, and his performances against Big Ten opponents have left him further behind the pace. Through Saturday, Denard has 3,959 yards of total offense in 495 plays, for an average of 8.0. This would be a Michigan single-season record: the current record is held by Drew Henson, who in 2000 gained 2,140 yards on 270 plays for an average of 7.9.

Here are the NCAA FBS records for a single game: 14.3 by Jason Martin (La. Tech vs. Toledo, 1996) in 37 plays and 9.9 by David Klingler (Houston vs. TCU, 1990) in 63 plays. Denard came pretty close to Martin in the Indiana game, where in 35 plays he averaged 14.1 yards per play (which is almost certainly a Michigan and quite likely a Big Ten record):

Denard Robinson

Attempts + Carries

Total Offense

Yards per Play

Connecticut

51

383

7.51

Notre Dame

68

502

7.38

Massachusetts

31

345

11.13

Bowling Green

9

189

21.00

Indiana

35

494

14.11

Michigan State

50

301

6.02

Iowa

36

201

5.58

Penn State

50

381

7.62

Illinois

39

367

9.41

Purdue

43

244

5.67

Wisconsin

47

360

7.66

Ohio State

36

192

5.33

TOTAL

495

3,959

8.00

NCAA Records

Attempts + Carries

Total Offense

Yards per Play

Game: Jason Martin (La. Tech vs. Toledo, 1996)

37

529

14.30

Game: David Klingler (Houston vs. TCU, 1990)

63

625

9.92

Season: Colt Brennan (Hawaii, 2006)

645

5,915

9.17

Career: Sam Bradford (Oklahoma, 2007-09)

970

8,439

8.70

As you can see in the table, for a single season (minimum 3,000 yards), the record is 9.2 by Colt Brennan (Hawaii, 2006). For a career (minimum 7,500 yards) it's 8.7 by Sam Bradford (Oklahoma, 2007-2009).

Passing Efficiency

Passing efficiency is a statistic that rewards quarterbacks for yards, touchdowns, and completions per attempt, and punishes them for interceptions per attempt. The NCAA formula, which differs from the NFL one, is:

Highest efficiency rating, career (min. 200 attempts): 148.1 (Elvis Grbac, 1989-1992) (Denard is at 146.2 for his career, good for 2nd all-time and on pace for 4th all-time in the Big Ten)

Bob Chappuis' Michigan single-season mark is also the Big Ten single-season record. (That’s him on the right. Check out that throwing motion.) The NCAA FBS pass efficiency record belongs to Colt Brennan of Hawaii, who reached 186.0 in 2006: out of Denard's reach.

Other Michigan Passing Records

At the end of 2009, here were some of the other Michigan passing records. Denard could break some of the completion percentage records (Tate broke one as well):

Yards per completion, season (min. 60 completions): Bob Chappuis, 18.8, 1947 (Denard is at 14.9, on pace for 8th all-time)

Yards per completion, career (min. 120 completions): Rick Leach, 17.1, 1975-1978 (Denard is at 14.8, good for 8th all-time)

Other Michigan Rushing Records

At the end of 2009, here were the other relevant Michigan rushing records. On average yards per carry, he owns one of the single-game records Michigan tracks, but is surprisingly far from the other ones (not that that couldn't change in a hurry). The single-season and career records are within reach:

Also, Denard is one of 5 quarterbacks in NCAA history to record 5 consecutive 100-yard rushing games (the others are Ricky Dobbs of Navy in 2009, Joe Webb of Alabama-Birmingham in 2009, Brian Madden of Navy in 1999, and Beau Morgan of Air Force in 1995). No one has done it 6 times in a row.

Team Offense

Michigan is averaging 500.9 yards per game in total offense, second-highest in Big Ten history? (First place belongs to Penn State's 1994 team, which averaged 512.7 yards per game.) If you take out the 72 extra yards Michigan gained in the three overtimes against Illinois, Michigan is averaging 495.0 yards per game, which would be fifth all-time.

This year's team is on pace to demolish the old Michigan total offense record of 466.9, set in 1992, when Gary Moeller roamed the sidelines, barking orders to Elvis Grbac, Desmond Howard, and Tyrone Wheatley.

Big Ten All-Time Leaders

Year

YPG (Total Offense)

1. MICH (including overtime)

2010

514.6

1. Penn State

1994

512.7

2. Northwestern

2005

500.3

3. Ohio State

1998

497.6

4. Michigan State

2005

497.3

5. MICH (regulation only)

2010

495.0

6. Minnesota

2005

494.8

7. Minnesota

2003

494.6

8. Ohio State

1974

493.2

9. Ohio State

1996

490.4

10. Michigan State

1978

481.3

11. Ohio State

1995

478.6

Michigan All-Time Leaders (QB/WR/RB)

Year

YPG (Total Offense)

1. Robinson / Roundtree / Smith (regulation)

2010

495.0

2. Grbac / Howard / Wheatley

1992

466.9

3. Navarre / Edwards / Perry

2003

446.7

4. Henson / Terrell / Thomas

2000

446.1

5. Grbac / Howard / Vaughn

1990

432.5

In terms of scoring offense, Michigan is averaging 34.3 points per game in regulation (32.5 points per game including the overtime scoring), stats that lag the total offense by yardage due to our terrible kicking and defense. The 7-point output against Ohio State brought the season average outside of Michigan's top 10 all-time teams.

Year

1902

1904

1901

1903

1947

1905

1976

1992

2003

*2010

PPG

58.5

56.7

50.5

47.1

39.4

38.1

36.0

35.9

35.4

32.5

* - Excludes points scored in overtime

The Fielding Yost "point-a-minute" teams averaged 50.5, 58.5, 47.1, 56.7, and 38.1 points per game from 1901 to 1905. Fritz Crisler's 1947 national championship team of Bob Chappuis and Bump Elliott, nicknamed the "Mad Magicians," averaged 39.4. (The official Michigan record book erroneously lists the 1947 average as second-highest in school history; it is missing the performances of 1901, 1903, 1904, and 1905.)

Dynamic offenses have been few and far between in the postwar era. The 1976 Bo Schembechler team, led by Rick Leach and Rob Lytle, scored 36.0 points per game, and owns the rushing season record with 345.3 yards per game. The aforementioned 1992 team averaged 35.9 points; and the 2003 team averaged 35.4.

Here are some other stats:

Michigan is averaging 7.0 yards per play, which is most all-time in Michigan history (the existing record is 6.4 yards, in 1992 and 1947).

Michigan is averaging 251.1 rushing yards per game (inclusive of OT; 248.7 regulation-only). (The Big Ten record is 349.9 in 1974 by Ohio State; the Michigan record is 345.3 in 1976.)

Michigan is averaging 5.7 yards per carry, second-highest in Michigan history (the current record is 5.9 per carry in 1976).

Michigan is averaging 255.5 passing yards per game (inclusive; 252.0 regulation-only), 3rd all-time in Michigan history. (The record is 270.8 in 2003.)

Michigan is averaging 23.5 first downs per game (inclusive; 23.3 regulation-only), second-highest in Michigan history. (The current record is 23.9 in 2003.) Over 13 games, this would be the sixth-highest total in Big Ten history.

Miscellaneous Records

As most of you know, against Illinois, Roy Roundtree destroyed a 44-year-old Michigan single-game receiving record, by gaining 246 yards (on 9 catches with 2 TDs). The old record was set in 1966, when Jack Clancy (pictured) gained 197 yards against Oregon State.

Roundtree's mark wouldn't even make the top ten all-time in the Big Ten: the Big Ten record is 301 by Chris Daniels of Purdue against MSU in 1999; the NCAA record is 405 by Troy Edwards of Louisiana Tech against Nebraska in 1998.

Standard Disclaimers

Wins are more important than stats. The existence of this diary is not meant to imply that individual achievement is more important than the achievement of the team. It is, instead, to pay tribute to Denard's exceptional individual achievement within the context of a (hopefully) successful team. With a few minor exceptions, Denard's stats don't come at the expense of the team: when he rushes for 250 yards or has a QB rating of 270, the team is usually doing well. If you object to this point of view, you don't have to read further.

Past performance is not a predictor of future results. To the degree I describe end-of-season projections for Denard, I do so simply, rather than Mathletically: (current total) * (13-game season) / (games played to date). As we saw through the season, Denard's projections came down as the defenses got stronger.

Projections are for a 13-game season. Beginning in 2002, the NCAA revised its single-season and career records to include postseason games. Michigan, with its defeat of the Illini, is set to go to a bowl game this year.

The quarterback position has evolved significantly. The forward pass was only formally legalized in 1906. From the 1910s until the 1950s, the most common college football formation was Pop Warner's single-wing, in which the quarterback's role was primarily as a blocker, and most passes were thrown by a tailback or halfback. The idea of a quarterback as the primary passer began to take hold after World War II, when coaches such as Clark Shaughnessy at Chicago and Stanford and Paul Brown at Ohio State took advantage of a recently redesigned football that was easier to throw, and married the ancient T formation to the threat of longer passes downfield.

The record books are murky from 1869 to 1937. Something to keep in mind is that the record books don't actually go back that far in time. At the national level, official statistics have only been recorded since 1937: a mere 52 percent of college football's history. Indeed, the first rules for compiling football statistics were formulated prior to the 1941 season by an NCAA committee headed by Fielding Yost. (College football has been around since 1869.) One has to assume that Yost's point-a-minute teams would have harbored some record-producing players, though the game was quite different then, as noted above. So, to be as precise as possible, we should describe all of these records as modern-era, postwar records.

Post-1978 records are for Division I-A only. Let me note that all the records here are for Division I-A (FBS), but do include all Division I records prior to the I-A / I-AA split in 1978. I don't really care about who did what in the other divisions, given the inferior level of competition. Personally, I would prefer to eliminate the non-automatically qualifying BCS conferences, but since the NCAA doesn't do that, I won't.

Post-1996 overtime and pre-1912 scoring rules skew historical comparisons. The NCAA introduced overtime to I-A football in 1996, and soon after determined that points and yards gained in overtime would count toward NCAA records. Given that teams and players did not have the benefit of overtime prior to 1996, I try wherever possible to exclude overtime stats (or at least give both sets of numbers). The modern convention of TDs worth 6 points (+1 PAT) and FGs worth 3 began in 1912. From 1869 to 1882, touchdowns, extra points, and field goals were all worth one point each. From 1882-1883, TDs were worth 2, PATs 4, and FGs 5; from 1884-1897, TDs 4, PATs 2, FGs 5; from 1898-1903, TDs 5, PATs 1, FGs 5; from 1904-1908, TDs 5, PATs 1, FGs 4; from 1901-1911, TDs 5, PATs 1, FGs 3. The two-point conversion was introduced in 1958. I currently don't have the breakdown of TDs, PATs, and FGs for the Yost teams; if anyone else does, I would be pleased to adjust those numbers accordingly so as to make apples-to-apples comparisons with modern teams. The rules of college football evolved rapidly from 1879 to 1930, making strict comparisons difficult. For example, the goal posts were moved from the goal line to the end line (10 yards back of the goal line) only in 1927, which has a huge impact on field goal kicking, and the width of the uprights has varied significantly over time.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Comrade tf (Michigan rushing single-game record) and danieljpaul (Denard's season totals) for corrections. H/T to tubauberalles and enlightenedbum for tracking down the FBS single-game QB rushing record. Comrades Raoul and UM in VA persuaded me to post the total offense numbers, and pointed out Denard's ridiculous per-play stats, which I also added to the diary. Trebor pointed out that we should keep an eye on the impressive seasons of Taylor Martinez and Cam Newton. Comrade U of M in TX helped identify a few updating errors. Raoul also suggested putting in the team offense stats. Hillhaus pointed out that I should discuss the pre-1912 scoring conventions. Raoul and BigHouseInmate suggested I look into Michigan's all-purpose touchdown records, which ended up being a lot of fun. And finally, thanks to all of you for enjoying the Almanack each week. That's what makes it worth my while.

In the comments section of the Wisconsin edition of my Almanack of Broken Records, Comrades Raoul and BigHouseInmate pointed out that Denard may have broken the single-season Michigan record for all-purpose touchdowns with 30 (16 passing, 14 rushing). Michigan does not actually track this particular statistic; instead, M tracks touchdowns scored (i.e., who actually carried the ball into the endzone). That record is held by Al Herrnstein, who scored 26 touchdowns in 1902.

So I had to go back and look at individual season statistics to compile the data. I actually went through the game-by-game accounts of the 1901-1905 seasons from the Michigan Alumnus in order to get accurate information about touchdown statistics in the Fielding Yost Point-A-Minute era, and reviewed old NCAA research on pre-1937 touchdown statistics. It's possible that there are other pre-WWII players that I've missed.

According to the stats I've been able to find, Robinson is indeed out front with 30 all-purpose touchdowns. On a per-game basis, Denard at 2.73 per game is second only to Tom Harmon, who scored 23 touchdowns (including a kickoff return and an interception return) over 8 games in 1940, for an average of 2.88.

It is unusual to be able to compile all-time records for a particular category, because modern football statistics only really came into being in the 1940s. But TDs and scoring are two of the few categories that we can measure from the pre-modern era, making Denard's achievement all the more impressive.

Here is the table, sorted by touchdowns per game, with a cutoff of 1.60. Remarkably, the 1901 team had three separate players score at that pace:

Name

Yr.

Pass TD

Rush TD

Rec TD

Kick TD

Int TD

TD

G

TD/G

Tom Harmon, LHB

1940

7

14

0

1

1

23

8

2.88

Denard Robinson, QB

2010

16

14

0

0

0

30

11

2.73

Tom Harmon, RHB

1939

6

13

0

0

1

20

8

2.50

Rick Leach, QB

1978

17

12

0

0

0

29

12

2.42

Al Herrnstein, RHB

1902

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

26

11

2.36

Steve Smith, QB

1981

15

12

0

0

0

27

12

2.25

Chad Henne, QB

2004

25

2

0

0

0

27

12

2.25

Willie Heston, LHB

1904

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

20

9

2.22

Drew Henson, QB

2000

18

2

0

0

0

20

9

2.22

Ron Johnson, RHB

1968

0

19

0

0

0

19

9

2.11

Steve Smith, QB

1983

13

10

0

0

0

23

11

2.09

Elvis Grbac, QB

1991

25

0

0

0

0

25

12

2.08

Chad Henne, QB

2005

23

1

0

0

0

24

12

2.00

John Navarre, QB

2003

24

0

1

0

0

25

13

1.92

Rick Leach, QB

1976

13

10

0

0

0

23

12

1.92

Steve Smith, QB

1982

14

9

0

0

0

23

12

1.92

Desmond Howard, SE

1991

0

2

19

2

0

23

12

1.92

Willie Heston, LHB

1901

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

20

11

1.82

Bob Chappuis, LHB

1947

15

5

0

0

0

20

11

1.82

John Navarre, QB

2002

21

2

0

0

0

23

13

1.77

Elvis Grbac, QB

1990

21

0

0

0

0

21

12

1.75

Tom Brady, QB

1999

20

1

0

0

0

21

12

1.75

Neil Snow, FB

1901

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

19

11

1.73

Bruce Shorts, RT

1901

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

17

10

1.70

Chad Henne, QB

2006

22

0

0

0

0

22

13

1.69

Willie Heston, LHB

1902

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

15

9

1.67

(EDIT: I added Bob Chappuis' 1947, Ron Johnson's 1968, and Bruce Shorts' 1901 seasons to the list, and added the offensive positions that each player filled. Note that Shorts scored 17 TDs as an offensive lineman: now those were the days!)

The NCAA FBS (I-A) single-season record is 63 touchdowns, by Colt Brennan of Hawaii in 2006 (58 passing, 5 rushing). The per-game record is 5.0 in 1990, by David Klingler of Houston (55 TDs in 11 games).

The FBS single-season record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback is 27, by Ricky Dobbs of Navy in 2009 (in 14 games). The season record for most touchdowns scored (i.e., excluding TD passes thrown) is 39, by Barry Sanders in 1988 over 11 games.

Tim Tebow is the only player to have both thrown and run for 20 touchdowns: in 2007, he threw for 32 and ran for 23. (Dan LeFevour of Central Michigan threw for 27, ran for 19, and caught 1 in 2007.) Cameron Newton may join this 20/20 club in 2010; he has thrown for 21 TDs and run for 17, with three games left.

The Michigan career record for most touchdowns scored is held by Yost-era legend Willie Heston, with 69 from 1901-1904 (the Michigan record book lists Heston at 72 TDs, which is incorrect according to my game-by-game tally). The record for most all-purpose touchdowns is held by Chad Henne, who threw for 87 and ran for 3 (for a total of 90) from 2004-2007. If Denard plays through his senior season, there is a realistic chance that he could break Henne's record. (EDIT: I changed this from the previous version, which incorrectly cited Heston as the all-purpose career leader.)

Here is the team photo of the all-time great team of 1901, courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library. Al Herrnstein is the right-most player in the front row. Neil Snow is the second from the left in the middle row. Willie Heston is right-most in the middle row. Fielding Yost is in the center of the back row. The "501-0" football that captain Hugh White is holding reflects the fact that this picture was taken before the team beat Stanford 49-0 in the inaugural Rose Bowl game of 1902. The lopsided score so disappointed Rose Bowl officials that they didn't hold a second Rose Bowl game until 1916.

Well, it finally happened. Denard broke the NCAA record that inspired this diary: the single-season mark for rushing yards by a quarterback. So, congratulations to Denard Robinson, and to his teammates and coaches, without whom this record would never have been achieved.

Once again, however this season turns out in the end, I urge all of you to not forget to enjoy the remarkable athletic performance that you are witnessing before your very eyes. You may never see a player like Denard again.

Also, Rob Lytle, R.I.P. Lytle was the featured back in the great 1976 ground attack, which at 4,144 yards and 345.3 per game, remains the most prolific rushing offense in recorded Michigan history. Lytle held the Michigan single-season rushing record for 11 years, with 1,469 yards, and the career record for five years, with 3,317, before those marks were topped by Jamie Morris and Butch Woolfolk, respectively.

Before we move on to the show, I want to say one thing: Bret Bielema is a coward. Trashing Denard as a "pretty" player who they "would never recruit." I seriously doubt you would talk smack about Comrade Denard if you were playing him in 2011 and 2012. Here's hoping that Michigan and Wisconsin meet in the Big Ten championship game in one of those years. Your plodding style may be working well for you this year: but get back to us when you win a mythical national championship with it. The inevitablitiy of the Hegelian dialectic means that we will get there before you do.

Prefatory Verbiage

Suggestions are welcome. If you have found an interesting statistic or record that you think I should add to this list, please put it in the comments section and I'll add it to the original post (and give you credit).

Review the disclaimers. Football has evolved considerably over its 141-year history, much more so than other major sports, and that is important to keep in mind when talking about all-time records. The existence of this diary is not meant to imply that individual achievement is more important than the achievement of the team.

New This Week

New to this week's Almanack is a section on the 1500/1500 club, which did not exist until Saturday afternoon.

Week in Review: Denard Sets the NCAA QB Rushing Record and Joins the 1500/1500 and 1500/2000 Clubs

By dilithium standards, Denard had a decent, but not extraordinary game. He complete 16 of 25 passes with 2 TDs and one interception for a rating of 162.7, above his season average. He also ran for 121 yards on 22 carries for a YPC of 5.5: not bad.

Denard set his first NCAA record: rushing yards by an FBS (I-A) quarterback for a single season, with two games left. (FWIW, the all-division record is 1,844 yards by Jayson Foster of I-AA powerhouse Georgia Southern in 2007.)

Denard also became the first player in major college history to run and throw for 1,500 yards in the same season, and the first in college football history (all divisons) to run for 1,500 yards and throw for 2,000 yards in a single year.

Of the other prominant dual-threat QBs, Cam Newton was off this week; Colin Kaepernick ran for 35 and threw for 251 in a rout over New Mexico State; and Taylor Martinez ran for 17 and threw for 107 in an injury-interrupted loss to Texas A&M. LaMichael James, Denard's leading rival for the FBS rushing title, was also off this week.

Record of the Week: 1500/2500 Club

Denard is 271 yards short of 2,500 passing for the season, which would make him the first person in major college history to throw for 2,500 and run for 1,500 in the same season. A big day throwing against O-State could get him there.

Though his average keeps trickling down, Denard maintained possession of the Michigan career yards-per-carry record with a minimum of 200 attempts, with 6.4 YPC. The previous record had been held by 6.3 YPC by Jon Vaughn (from 1989-1990).

Denard extended his hold on to the Michigan career pass-efficiency record with a minimum of 200 attempts, at 150.4. The previous record was 148.1 by Elvis Grbac (from 1989-1992), and Elvis had the benefit of a Heisman Trophy-winning receiver. Denard's 150.4 mark is also on pace for third all-time in the Big Ten, though he needs 300 completions to qualify for that record (he currently has 161).

Denard remains on pace to break the Michigan single-season total offense per play record, with 8.2 yards per play as of this week. The current record is held by Drew Henson, who recorded 7.9 YPP in 2000.

Quarterbacks as NCAA Rushing Champions

A quarterback has never led the NCAA FBS in rushing yards over a single season. In 1937, the first year in which the NCAA kept official football statistics, Colorado halfback Byron "Whizzer" White led the nation in rushing with 1,121 yards, along with 475 passing yards. (If that wasn't enough, White also went to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, played in the NFL for Pittsburgh and Detroit, served in World War II during which he was awarded two Bronze Stars, came back and graduated from Yale Law School, and was appointed by John F. Kennedy to the Supreme Court of the United States.)

This year, Denard could become the first quarterback in history to finish the season as the NCAA rushing champion (by yards gained). He currently has gained 1,538 yards on the ground. However, LaMichael James of Oregon is 116 yards behind with one extra game to play.

On a yards-per-game basis, James is in first place with 158.0 (Denard has fallen to third with 139.8, behind James and Connecticut's Jordan Todman). Personally, I find the YPG statistic to be arbitrary: should Denard be punished because the Bowling Green game was a rout, and LaMichael James be rewarded because he was suspended for one game for pleading guilty to harrassing his ex-girlfriend? FWIW, on a yards-per-carry basis, Denard is still ahead of James.

Here are the top 5 rushers in the country, sorted by yards gained:

Player

Team

Carries

Yards

YPC

Games

YPG

TD

Denard Robinson

MICH

227

1,538

6.78

11

139.8

14

Bobby Rainey

W. Kentucky

313

1,492

4.77

11

135.6

13

Kendall Hunter

Oklahoma St.

248

1,461

5.89

11

132.8

16

LaMichael James

Oregon

225

1,422

6.32

*9

158.0

17

Mikel Leshoure

Illinois

233

1,371

5.88

11

124.6

13

* - LaMichael James was suspended for Oregon's first game against
New Mexico for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor.

Rushing Yards by a QB, Single-Game

Denard currently holds the Michigan and Big Ten records for rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game: 258 vs. Notre Dame. The NCAA FBS record is 308, on 22 attempts, by Stacey Robinson of Northern Illinois, against Fresno State, on Oct. 6, 1990.

Rushing Yards by a QB, Single-Season

Denard currently has 1,538 rushing yards in 11 games. This projects to 1,818 over a 13-game schedule. He owns the NCAA FBS (I-A) record, previously set by Beau Morgan of Air Force in 1996 with 1,494 yards. The Big Ten record was previously in the hands of Antwaan Randle-El in 2000 with 1,270 yards. Denard has destroyed the previous Michigan record for QB rushing yards in a season: 674 by Steve Smith in 1981.

Before you get too overwhelmed by all the numbers in this diary, just stop and think about that for a minute. Denard Robinson, your starting Michigan quarterback, playing before your very eyes, is on pace to almost triple a Michigan rushing record. And not just any record, but one that has stood for three decades. Even if you account for the fact that we're playing a very different style of football now—it's just incredible.

Rushing Yards by a QB, Career

There's no point in projecting Denard's career rushing totals, since we don't even know how he'll do this year (or if his knee will hold up), nor if he will stay for his senior season. But here are the records:

Michigan's career record is held by Rick Leach (1975-1978) at 2,176 yards: a record Denard will break this year, at his current pace. Denard needs to average 144rushing yards a game to take this title. (Guys like Leach and Steve Smith must salivate at what they could have done in the offense of Comrade Rodriguez.) The Big Ten record is Antwaan Randel El's (1998-2001) at 3,895 yards. The NCAA FBS record is held by Pat White (2005-2008) at 4,480 yards.

The NCAA FBS per-game career record is 109.1 yards by Stacey Robinson of Northern Illinois, achieved from 1988-1990 over 25 games.

Rushing Records (At Any Position)

For a single game, the Michigan record is 347 by Ron Johnson in 1968 against Wisconsin; the Big Ten record is 377 by Anthony Thompson of Indiana in 1989 against Wisconsin; the NCAA FBS record is 406 by LaDainian Tomlinson of TCU in 1999 against UTEP.

For a single season, the Michigan record is 1,818 yards (Tshimanga Biakabutuka, 1995); the Big Ten record is 2,087 yards (Larry Johnson, Penn St., 2002); the NCAA FBS record is 2,628 yards (Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State, 1988). Denard can break Touchdown Tim's Michigan record by averaging 140 yards per game over the rest of the season.

That Barry Sanders record will be around for a long time. At one point, Denard was on pace to break Larry Johnson's Big Ten rushing record, but he has slowed down as the schedule has gotten tougher, and that record now looks out of reach for this year.

For a career, the Michigan record is held by Mike Hart (5,040 yards, 2004-2007); the Big Ten record is held by Ron Dayne (7,125 yards, 1996-1999); the NCAA FBS record is also held by Ron Dayne, but they list it as 6,397 yards. (Herschel Walker of Georgia holds the record for a 3-year career at 5,259 yards, set from 1980-1982.)

The 200/200 Club

Much has been made of the fact that Denard is the only player in FBS history to gain 200 yards rushing and 200 yards passing twice in regular-season games. To me this is a silly distinction—who cares if it was done in the regular season or a bowl game? If anything, Vince Young's performance in the 2005 Rose Bowl against USC is even more remarkable, given that that USC team is considered one of the most dominant teams of the modern era. Wake me up when Denard gets his third 200/200 game. (He did go for 191/190 against Penn State.)

Anyway, here are the 200/200 games listed in the NCAA record book, sorted by total offense. You'll note that Denard is the only member of the 240/240 club, and Marques Tuiasosopo is the only member of the 200/300 club.

Player

Team (Opponent)

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Marques Tuiasosopo

Washington (Stanford)

1999

207

302

509

Vince Young

Texas (Oklahoma St.)

2005

267

239

506

Denard Robinson

MICH (Notre Dame)

2010

258

244

502

Denard Robinson

MICH (Indiana)

2010

217

277

494

Reds Bagnell

Penn (Dartmouth)

1950

214

276

490

Brad Smith

Missouri (Nebraska)

2005

246

234

480

Brian Mitchell

La.-Lafayette (Colo. St.)

1987

271

205

476

Antwaan Randle-El

Indiana (Minnesota)

2000

210

263

473

Vince Young

Texas (USCRose Bowl)

2005

200

267

467

Patrick White

W. Va. (Pittsburgh)

2006

220

204

424

Steve Gage

Tulsa (New Mexico)

1986

212

209

421

The 1500/1500 Club

There is one quarterback in major college football history who has both rushed and passed for 1,500 yards in the same season.

Player

Team

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Denard Robinson

MICH

2010

1,538

2,229

3,767

The 1000/1000 Club

There are 30 quarterbacks (and one halfback, Johnny Bright of Drake) in FBS who have run and thrown for 1000 yards in the same season. Of these, none have both run and passed for 1500 yards (the rushing record for QBs is 1,223).

Seven quarterbacks have achieved this milestone multiple times: Brad Smith (thrice), Colin Kaepernick (twice and counting), Vince Young (twice), Pat White (twice), Beau Morgan (twice), Joe Webb (twice), and Joshua Cribbs (twice). Only two people have joined the 1000/1000 club as freshmen: Brad Smith of Missouri, and Joshua Cribbs of Kent State. Air Force leads the overall list with five different QBs, in six different seasons, in the 1000/1000 club. (It is interesting that an instrument of American capitalist imperialism, the U.S. Air Force Academy, is the premier exponent of communist football.)

The list below of 1000/1000 members is sorted this list by rushing yards. I've also added 2010 season totals for Cam Newton, Taylor Martinez, and Colin Kaepernick, three dual-threat quarterbacks who are likely to surpass 1000/1000 this year (Kaepernick already did so in 2008 and 2009, and Newton already has for 2010). Newton is also likely to join Denard as a 1500-yard rusher.

Player

Team

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Dilithium (on pace for)

MICH

2010

1,818

2,634

4,452

Newton (on pace for)

Auburn

2010

1,651

2,594

4,245

Denard Robinson

MICH

2010

1,538

2,229

3,767

Beau Morgan**

Air Force

1996

1,494

1,210

2,704

Joe Webb

UAB

2009

1,427

2,229

3,726

Jammal Lord

Nebraska

2002

1,412

1,362

2,774

Brad Smith

Missouri

2003

1,406

1,977

3,383

Chris McCoy

Navy

1997

1,370

1,203

2,573

Patrick White

W. Virginia

2007

1,335

1,724

3,059

Brian Mitchell

La.-Lafayette

1989

1,311

1,966

3,277

Brad Smith

Missouri

2005

1,301

2,304

3,605

Cameron Newton

Auburn

2010

1,297

2,038

3,335

Dee Dowis

Air Force

1989

1,286

1,285

2,571

Beau Morgan

Air Force

1995

1,285

1,165

2,450

Antwaan Randle El*

Indiana

2000

1,270

1,783

3,053

Johnny Bright (HB)

Drake

1950

1,232

1,168

2,400

Chance Herridge

Air Force

2002

1,229

1,062

2,291

Patrick White

W. Virginia

2006

1,219

1,655

2,874

Keith Boyea

Air Force

2001

1,216

1,253

2,469

Ricky Dobbs

Navy

2009

1,203

1,031

2,234

Colin Kaepernick

Nevada

2009

1,183

2,052

3,235

Dwight Dasher

Middle Tenn.

2009

1,154

2,789

3,943

Michael Desormeaux

La.-Lafayette

2007

1,141

1,405

2,546

Colin Kaepernick

Nevada

2008

1,130

2,849

3,979

Dan LeFevour

Central Mich.

2007

1,122

3,652

4,774

Eric Crouch

Nebraska

2001

1,115

1,510

2,625

Craig Candeto

Navy

2003

1,112

1,140

2,252

Scott Frost

Nebraska

1997

1,095

1,237

2,332

Michael Carter

Hawaii

1991

1,092

1,172

2,264

Vince Young

Texas

2004

1,079

1,849

2,928

Joshua Cribbs

Kent State

2002

1,057

1,014

2,071

Vince Young

Texas

2005

1,050

3,036

4,086

Josh Nesbitt

Ga. Tech

2009

1,037

1,701

2,738

Bart Weiss

Air Force

1985

1,032

1,449

2,481

Ell Roberson

Kansas St.

2002

1,032

1,580

2,612

Brad Smith (Fr.)

Missouri

2002

1,029

2,333

3,362

Joe Webb

UAB

2008

1,021

2,367

3,388

Joshua Cribbs (Fr.)

Kent State

2001

1,019

1,516

2,535

Reggie Collier

So. Miss.

1981

1,005

1,004

2,009

Darian Hagan

Colorado

1989

1,004

1,002

2,006

Woodrow Dantzler

Clemson

2001

1,004

2,360

3,364

Colin Kaepernick

Nevada

2010

981

2,412

3,393

Taylor Martinez

Nebraska

2010

974

1,435

2,409

* Previous Big Ten record for rushing yards by a quarterback
** Previous NCAA FBS (I-AA) record for rushing yards by a QB

Total Offense

Denard already owns the Michigan single-game total offense record (502 yards against Notre Dame). In fact, Denard has broken the old Michigan single-game total offense record four times this year, with games of 502, 494, 383, and 381 yards. (The previous record was 368 by John Navarre against Iowa in 2003.) Against Illinois and Wisconsin, Denard almost broke this record again, gaining 367 and 360 yards respectively: giving him six of the seven highest totals in Michigan history.

Player

Opponent

Year

Rushing

Passing

Total Off.

Denard Robinson

Notre Dame

2010

258

244

502

Denard Robinson

Indiana

2010

217

277

494

Denard Robinson

Connecticut

2010

197

186

383

Denard Robinson

Penn State

2010

191

190

381

John Navarre

Iowa

2003

-21

389

368

Denard Robinson

Illinois

2010

62

305

367

Denard Robinson

Wisconsin

2010

121

239

360

Scott Dreisbach

Virginia

1995

-14

372

358

As noted above, Denard is also on pace to annihilate John Navarre's single-season total offense record of 3,240 in 2003 (Denard has 3,767 as of today, and projects to an astounding 4,452 yards over 13 games).

The Big Ten single-game total offense record is 585 yards by Dave Wilson of Illinois, vs. Ohio State in 1980. The Big Ten single-season total offense record is 4,189 yards by Drew Brees of Purdue in 2000, which is well within Denard's reach. Denard has to average 211 yards of total offense in his remaining games to pass Brees; he is currently averaging 343.

The NCAA total offense records are dominated by prolific passers. Those records appear to be unattainable by Denard: 732 yards for a single game (David Klingler, Houston vs. Arizona State, 1990); 5,976 for a season (B.J. Symons, Texas Tech, 2003); 16,910 for a career (Timmy Chang, Hawaii, 2000-2004).

Total Offense Per Play

As with total offense records, these will be tough for Denard to keep pace with, and his performances against Big Ten opponents have left him further behind the pace. Through Saturday, Denard has 3,767 yards of total offense in 459 plays, for an average of 8.2. This would be a Michigan single-season record: the current record is held by Drew Henson, who in 2000 gained 2,140 yards on 270 plays for an average of 7.9.

Here are the NCAA FBS records for a single game: 14.3 by Jason Martin (La. Tech vs. Toledo, 1996) in 37 plays and 9.9 by David Klingler (Houston vs. TCU, 1990) in 63 plays. Denard came pretty close to Martin in the Indiana game, where in 35 plays he averaged 14.1 yards per play (which is almost certainly a Michigan and quite likely a Big Ten record):

Denard Robinson

Attempts + Carries

Total Offense

Yards per Play

Connecticut

51

383

7.51

Notre Dame

68

502

7.38

Massachusetts

31

345

11.13

Bowling Green

9

189

21.00

Indiana

35

494

14.11

Michigan State

50

301

6.02

Iowa

36

201

5.58

Penn State

50

381

7.62

Illinois

39

367

9.41

Purdue

43

244

5.67

Wisconsin

47

360

7.66

TOTAL

459

3,767

8.21

NCAA Records

Attempts + Carries

Total Offense

Yards per Play

Game: Jason Martin (La. Tech vs. Toledo, 1996)

37

529

14.30

Game: David Klingler (Houston vs. TCU, 1990)

63

625

9.92

Season: Colt Brennan (Hawaii, 2006)

645

5,915

9.17

Career: Sam Bradford (Oklahoma, 2007-09)

970

8,439

8.70

As you can see in the table, for a single season (minimum 3,000 yards), the record is 9.2 by Colt Brennan (Hawaii, 2006). For a career (minimum 7,500 yards) it's 8.7 by Sam Bradford (Oklahoma, 2007-2009).

Passing Efficiency

Passing efficiency is a statistic that rewards quarterbacks for yards, touchdowns, and completions per attempt, and punishes them for interceptions per attempt. The NCAA formula, which differs from the NFL one, is:

Denard's 2010 passing efficiency is currently 158.2; his career efficiency (including last year) is 150.4, which would be a Michigan record if he keeps that pace. Here are Michigan's pass efficiency records:

Highest efficiency rating, career (min. 200 attempts): 148.1 (Elvis Grbac, 1989-1992) (Denard is at 150.4 for his career, good for 1st all-time and on pace for 3rd all-time in the Big Ten)

Bob Chappuis' Michigan single-season mark is also the Big Ten single-season record. Ricky Stanzi and Terrelle Pryor are challenging that record this year, with ratings of 163.2 and 158.6, respectively, good for 3rd and 5th all-time. The NCAA FBS pass efficiency record belongs to Colt Brennan of Hawaii, who reached 186.0 in 2006: out of Denard's reach.

Other Michigan Passing Records

At the end of 2009, here were some of the other Michigan passing records. Denard could break some of the completion percentage records (Tate broke one as well):

Other Michigan Rushing Records

At the end of 2009, here were the other relevant Michigan rushing records. On average yards per carry, he owns one of the single-game records Michigan tracks, but is surprisingly far from the other ones (not that that couldn't change in a hurry). The single-season and career records are within reach:

Also, Denard is one of 5 quarterbacks in NCAA history to record 5 consecutive 100-yard rushing games (the others are Ricky Dobbs of Navy in 2009, Joe Webb of Alabama-Birmingham in 2009, Brian Madden of Navy in 1999, and Beau Morgan of Air Force in 1995). No one has done it 6 times in a row.

Team Offense

Did you know that Michigan is averaging 514.6 yards per game in total offense, higher than any other team in Big Ten history? (Second place belongs to Penn State's 1994 team, which averaged 512.7 yards per game.) If you take out the 72 extra yards Michigan gained in the three overtimes against Illinois, Michigan is averaging 508.1 yards per game, which would be second all-time.

This year's team is on pace to demolish the old Michigan total offense record of 466.9, set in 1992, when Gary Moeller roamed the sidelines, barking orders to Elvis Grbac, Desmond Howard, and Tyrone Wheatley.

Big Ten All-Time Leaders

Year

YPG (Total Offense)

1. MICH (including overtime)

2010

514.6

1. Penn State

1994

512.7

2. MICH (regulation only)

2010

508.1

3. Northwestern

2005

500.3

4. Ohio State

1998

497.6

5. Michigan State

2005

497.3

6. Minnesota

2005

494.8

7. Minnesota

2003

494.6

8. Ohio State

1974

493.2

9. Ohio State

1996

490.4

10. Michigan State

1978

481.3

11. Ohio State

1995

478.6

Michigan All-Time Leaders (QB/WR/RB)

Year

YPG (Total Offense)

1. Robinson / Roundtree / Smith (regulation)

2010

508.1

2. Grbac / Howard / Wheatley

1992

466.9

3. Navarre / Edwards / Perry

2003

446.7

4. Henson / Terrell / Thomas

2000

446.1

5. Grbac / Howard / Vaughn

1990

432.5

In terms of scoring offense, Michigan is averaging 34.8 points per game in regulation (36.8 points per game including the overtime scoring), good for 10th all-time in Michigan history (9th if you count OT points). This is all the more remarkable given that our terrible placekicking and team defense give the offense poor field position and missed field goals.

Year

1902

1904

1901

1903

1947

1905

1976

1992

2003

*2010

PPG

58.5

56.7

50.5

47.1

39.4

38.1

36.0

35.9

35.4

34.8

* - Excludes points scored in overtime

The Fielding Yost "point-a-minute" teams averaged 50.5, 58.5, 47.1, 56.7, and 38.1 points per game from 1901 to 1905. Fritz Crisler's 1947 national championship team of Bob Chappuis and Bump Elliott, nicknamed the "Mad Magicians," averaged 39.4. (The official Michigan record book erroneously lists the 1947 average as second-highest in school history; it is missing the performances of 1901, 1903, 1904, and 1905.)

Dynamic offenses have been few and far between in the postwar era. The 1976 Bo Schembechler team, led by Rick Leach and Rob Lytle, scored 36.0 points per game, and owns the rushing season record with 345.3 yards per game. The aforementioned 1992 team averaged 35.9 points; and the 2003 team averaged 35.4.

Here are some other impressive stats:

Michigan is averaging 7.1 yards per play, which is most all-time in Michigan history (the existing record is 6.4 yards, in 1992 and 1947).

Michigan is averaging 257.4 rushing yards per game (inclusive of OT; 254.7 regulation-only). (The Big Ten record is 349.9 in 1974 by Ohio State; the Michigan record is 345.3 in 1976.)

Michigan is averaging 5.8 yards per carry, second-highest in Michigan history (the current record is 5.9 per carry in 1976).

Michigan is averaging 257.2 passing yards per game (inclusive; 253.4 regulation-only), 3rd all-time in Michigan history. (The record is 270.8 in 2003.)

Michigan is averaging 23.9 first downs per game (inclusive; 23.6 regulation-only), tied for highest in Michigan history. (The current record is 23.9 in 2003.) Over 13 games, this would be the fifth-highest total in Big Ten history (6th using regulation numbers).

Miscellaneous Records

As most of you know, against Illinois, Roy Roundtree destroyed a 44-year-old Michigan single-game receiving record, by gaining 246 yards (on 9 catches with 2 TDs). The old record was set in 1966, when Jack Clancy gained 197 yards against Oregon State. (Roundtree's mark wouldn't even make the top ten all-time in the Big Ten: the Big Ten record is 301 by Chris Daniels of Purdue against MSU in 1999; the NCAA record is 405 by Troy Edwards of Louisiana Tech against Nebraska in 1998.)

Standard Disclaimers

Wins are more important than stats. The existence of this diary is not meant to imply that individual achievement is more important than the achievement of the team. It is, instead, to pay tribute to Denard's exceptional individual achievement within the context of a (hopefully) successful team. With a few minor exceptions, Denard's stats don't come at the expense of the team: when he rushes for 250 yards or has a QB rating of 270, the team is usually doing well. If you object to this point of view, you don't have to read further.

Past performance is not a predictor of future results. To the degree I describe end-of-season projections for Denard, I do so simply, rather than Mathletically: (current total) * (13-game season) / (games played to date). Denard's numbers may come down against stronger defenses, but he played quite well against Iowa and Illinois, two statistically strong defenses, so we'll see.

Projections are for a 13-game season. Beginning in 2002, the NCAA revised its single-season and career records to include postseason games. Michigan, with its defeat of the Illini, is set to go to a bowl game this year.

The quarterback position has evolved significantly. The forward pass was only formally legalized in 1906. From the 1910s until the 1950s, the most common college football formation was Pop Warner's single-wing, in which the quarterback's role was primarily as a blocker, and most passes were thrown by a tailback or halfback. The idea of a quarterback as the primary passer began to take hold after World War II, when coaches such as Clark Shaughnessy at Chicago and Stanford and Paul Brown at Ohio State took advantage of a recently redesigned football that was easier to throw, and married the ancient T formation to the threat of longer passes downfield.

The record books are murky from 1869 to 1937. Something to keep in mind is that the record books don't actually go back that far in time. At the national level, official statistics have only been recorded since 1937: a mere 52 percent of college football's history. Indeed, the first rules for compiling football statistics were formulated prior to the 1941 season by an NCAA committee headed by Fielding Yost. (College football has been around since 1869.) One has to assume that Yost's point-a-minute teams would have harbored some record-producing players, though the game was quite different then, as noted above. So, to be as precise as possible, we should describe all of these records as modern-era, postwar records.

Post-1978 records are for Division I-A only. Let me note that all the records here are for Division I-A (FBS), but do include all Division I records prior to the I-A / I-AA split in 1978. I don't really care about who did what in the other divisions, given the inferior level of competition. Personally, I would prefer to eliminate the non-automatically qualifying BCS conferences, but since the NCAA doesn't do that, I won't.

Post-1996 overtime and pre-1912 scoring rules skew historical comparisons. The NCAA introduced overtime to I-A football in 1996, and soon after determined that points and yards gained in overtime would count toward NCAA records. Given that teams and players did not have the benefit of overtime prior to 1996, I try wherever possible to exclude overtime stats (or at least give both sets of numbers). The modern convention of TDs worth 6 points (+1 PAT) and FGs worth 3 began in 1912. From 1869 to 1882, touchdowns, extra points, and field goals were all worth one point each. From 1882-1883, TDs were worth 2, PATs 4, and FGs 5; from 1884-1897, TDs 4, PATs 2, FGs 5; from 1898-1903, TDs 5, PATs 1, FGs 5; from 1904-1908, TDs 5, PATs 1, FGs 4; from 1901-1911, TDs 5, PATs 1, FGs 3. The two-point conversion was introduced in 1958. I currently don't have the breakdown of TDs, PATs, and FGs for the Yost teams; if anyone else does, I would be pleased to adjust those numbers accordingly so as to make apples-to-apples comparisons with modern teams. The rules of college football evolved rapidly from 1879 to 1930, making strict comparisons difficult. For example, the goal posts were moved from the goal line to the end line (10 yards back of the goal line) only in 1927, which has a huge impact on field goal kicking, and the width of the uprights has varied significantly over time.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to tf (Michigan rushing single-game record) and danieljpaul (Denard's season totals) for corrections. H/T to tubauberalles and enlightenedbum for tracking down the FBS single-game QB rushing record. Raoul and UM in VA persuaded me to post the total offense numbers, and pointed out Denard's ridiculous per-play stats, which I also added to the diary. Trebor pointed out that we should keep an eye on the impressive seasons of Taylor Martinez and Cam Newton. U of M in TX helped identify a few updating errors. Raoul also suggested putting in the team offense stats. Hillhaus pointed out that I should discuss the pre-1912 scoring conventions.